Roswell Raises the Bar On Going Green

Soon residents of Roswell may realize they have more in common with residents of Hoover, Alabama than they realized when it comes to being green.

In Hoover, city managers began studying uses for alternative fuels in 2004 and today they are running city vehicles on ethanol and are exploring ways to use converted vegetable oil to power city facilities.

Roswell hopes to continue its commitment to community sustainability through similar measures. The city’s Environmental/Public Works Department is participating in LEAP (Local Energy Assurance Planning), a program funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). To participate in the program, cities across the country are hand selected by the U.S. Department of Energy.

The department’s director, Stuart Moring, says the program is allowing his staff to evaluate energy sources, consider alternatives and create plans for energy assurance in the event of emergencies from simple to catastrophic.

Moring says they may not be on the cutting edge of technology to help make the city greener, but they’re using what they have and learning to not only be responsible environmentally, but fiscally as well.

“We’re not pioneering things, but we do try to take advantage of those things that will save us money and help out the environment as well,” Moring said.

But like Hoover, they may become pioneers more so than they believe they are right now. Moring shared the fact that they’ve begun collecting vegetable oil at the city’s recycling center and investigating the purchase of a system that will allow them to reprocess it into biodiesel fuel, with the hope of powering the city’s waste treatment plant with that oil.

Last year Roswell received the Silver level certification from the Atlanta Regional Commission Green Communities Program. The honor - a first among metro Atlanta cities to receive that level - recognizes their efforts to implement projects in city facilities that reduce energy, everything from low-flow toilet fixtures to using LED lights.

One of the accomplishments that garnered the most attention was the city’s decision to replace the roof of the water plant with a light-colored, prefabricated metal roof that reflects 30 percent more energy, reducing heating costs. Moring explained the city could have replaced the roof with a traditional shingle roof, but they opted for a more sustainable solution. The savings in energy costs will pay off the extra cost in building the roof in around two years, Moring said.

Moring believes his department must balance remaining sustainable and environmentally responsible with being financially responsible. He feels the water plant’s roof is a great example of their balancing act.

“We are a public works and environmental department so we are interested in promoting long-term sustainability,” he said. “A lot of people think of sustainability as just environmental stewardship, but it really encompasses economic efficiency. We want to promote things that are going to last a while, protect the environment and serve people’s needs the cheapest way that we can.”

The Roswell business community is getting in on the act as well and Keep Roswell Beautiful is recognizing them. The volunteer, nonprofit organization recently announced their first annual Green Business Awards.

The City of Roswell, Abulous Media, Southern Sprinkler Systems, Harry’s Farmers Market, Ecological Solutions, Mulky Engineering and Consultants, Hitch and Webb and Atlantic Coast Consulting were awarded the honor based on criteria of different levels of sustainability.

Janet Liberman, the organization’s executive director, believes with the naming of these eight businesses, the foundation is laid for the rest of the business community to follow suit.

“The companies that are the first recipients of this honor are setting the example for the rest of the business community in Roswell,” Liberman said. “From company policies that include ‘lights out, power down’, to teaching about composting, to utilizing refrigerator kegs for entertaining instead of bottles or cans of beer; they have set the bar high.” 

One project in Roswell that will be talked about in the coming months is an entire community built on the premise that green can be a lifestyle.

Weatherford Place, an eight-home subdivision created by Cadmus Construction, is a state-of-the-art community that was third-party rated to be 100 percent more energy efficient than a typical home and over 50 percent more efficient than a home built to the 2006 Energy Code.

The construction includes pre-planned woodwork designed to employ every piece of purchased wood. The community has zero water discharge and solar cells that generate enough power to not only power the homes but produce income for the community by selling power back to Georgia Power, according to Moring.

With companies like the Green Business Award winners, organizations like Keep Roswell Beautiful and city leaders like Moring leading the charge, Roswell is in good hands with its first generation of green influencers.

There’s no doubt those - and other’s - hands will be green for a long time to come. 

For more information on Roswell's sustainability efforts, visit here.