The Atlanta Apartment Association (AAA) today launched its new “Going Green” initiative to raise awareness of the environmental benefits of apartment living, and to recognize sustainability efforts of its members and associate members.
“Fortunately, people are overwhelmingly supportive of protecting our environment. And, we think it’s important to let our members, their residents and the public know how green apartment living is,” said Christie Eash, Senior Vice President AMLI Residential Properties and Chair of AAA. “Living in an apartment leaves a smaller carbon footprint than living in a single-family home, and we want to spread that message.”
Going forward, AAA will outline various ways that apartment living contributes to sustainability. AAA leaders will highlight how members have adopted best practices for energy efficiency, reducing water waste, encouraging recycling and much more.
“We will be highlighting eight ways in which apartments are contributing to ‘greening,’ the communities they are in,” said Jim Fowler, AAA President. “Greener communities are healthier.”
Fowler points out that AAA members, who manage more than 380,000 apartments in metro Atlanta, provide homes that are:
- Energy efficient in their construction, and have fewer empty spaces to be heated or cooled, as compared to single-family homes
- Often close to transit, community shops and services, meaning shorter commutes and a more attractive, walkable lifestyle
- Environments that make recycling easier, as property managers provide easily accessible recycling options
- Easy on community infrastructure. Apartments use height and shared walls to achieve density that uses land efficiently and uses far less incremental infrastructure than sprawling single-family subdivisions
- Water efficient through use of shared greenspaces and pools
- Spaces that provide healthier air quality through regular professional maintenance of HVAC systems and smoke-free common areas
- Economical and “right size,” environments. An overlooked value of living in a home with less unused space is that it values experience over consumption. Larger spaces tend get to filled with “stuff,” that is rarely used and may ultimately take up precious landfill space
- Often required by local regulation to achieve green certifications or comply with other sustainability requirements, ensuring apartment communities are green now and in the future
An important part of the Going Green initiative will be to celebrate apartment communities and owners who receive green certifications, as well as the way associate members contribute to helping owners and managers provide residents a more sustainable lifestyle.
“Keeping sustainability top of mind for ourselves and educating others through the Going Green initiative will help our members stay abreast of the latest trends and help keep us focused on constantly improving our environmental stewardship,” Eash said.
About the Atlanta Apartment Association
The Atlanta Apartment Association is the multifamily housing trade association for the Atlanta Metro area. Founded in 1975, AAA is one of the largest local apartment associations in the country and an affiliate of the Georgia Apartment Association and the National Apartment Association. Currently, AAA represents over 1,500 member companies consisting of 370 companies managing 380,000+ apartment homes, and nearly 1,200 businesses that provide products and services to the industry.
