Atlanta Galleria Now

Galleria Chat: Feb. 16, 2012

The Galleria Chat is a weekly feature that appears on this blog each Thursday. The Chat will provide you with a hearty helping of links to stories and announcements to keep you in the know about the area surrounding the Atlanta Galleria Office Park. So without further ado …

• There Is No “I” in Team. For a small business, teaming up with another similarly sized firm can pave the way to compete more successfully for commercial and government contracts. On March 1, the Cobb Chamber of Commerce will conduct an education session called “Creating Business Alliances to Win Procurement Contracts.” The two-hour session will feature Karen Mills of Mills Law Associates and Jone Debnam of the Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center. The two will discuss the objectives and benefits of “teaming arrangements,” as well as the legal considerations of the arrangements.

The registration deadline is Wednesday, Feb. 29, at noon. Admission is $40 for the general public and $25 for Chamber members. Click here to register.

• Dinner and a Play? Valentine’s Day may be past, but that doesn’t mean you can’t treat your spouse or significant other to a nice night on the town. Laura Davidson, a.k.a. the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s “Bargain Hunter,” has the lowdown on a package being offered by The Atlanta Ballet and the South City Kitchen in Vinings. For just $53 (plus a surcharge) you get one ticket to “The Princess and the Goblin,” showing at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, and dinner at South City, home to chic Southern food.

• Decrease Your Carbon Footprint. The EcoAction Factory and Green School will hold a free open house from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. this Saturday in Smyrna to preview its year-round calendar of environmental classes. The topics of the classes range from water conservation and energy efficiency to overhauling residential and commercial properties to perform in an environmentally friendly manner. The Smyrna-Vinings Patch has the details on the open house.

• Here Come the Brides. Maybe you got engaged on Valentine’s Day, or maybe you just have an upcoming wedding. If you have no idea about how to even begin planning for the big event, consider attending the Georgia Bridal Show on March 4 at the Cobb Galleria. Exhibitors include photographers, caterers, florists, gown and tuxedo designers, and even reception DJs.   Visit the show site for all the details. Tickets are $10 at the door. Discounted tickets can be purchased online.

Engel Talks LEED, Green Galleria in AJC

In an Atlanta Journal-Constitution story this week about the pros and cons of obtaining LEED status for existing buildings, Childress Klein’s Connie Engel explained why she has opted against going after the designation for Atlanta Galleria.

“We don’t want to pay the cost,” Engel told AJC reporter Rachel Tobin, “or pass it on to tenants during this economic climate.”

But, she added, that doesn't mean Childress Klein doesn’t believe in conservation.

 “We’ve been doing it for years: recycling, water conservation, all kinds of things generally considered green,” Engel said in the story.

The newspaper went on to say the Engel’s views are becoming increasingly widespread. The price tag of applying for LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is up to $27,500 per building, according to the article.

 “That doesn’t seem right to us,” Engel said. “We have to put any extra dollars that we have toward keeping or getting tenants.”

Whether Atlanta Galleria ever applies for a LEED designation or not, Childress Klein has made plenty of improvements to the buildings here that make them both greener and more efficient. That’s good for all of us!

To learn more about Atlanta Galleria’s green efforts, click here.

 

Greening Galleria

Just call us the Green Galleria. Childress Klein’s property management team at Atlanta Galleria Office Park is proud of the initiatives we’ve implemented and others we’re working on. We’re taking a comprehensive approach to making sure the office buildings do what they can to lessen their impact on the environment. This includes programs covering lighting, energy conservation, cleaning, recycling, water conservation and alternative transportation options for the people who work in our buildings. 

“At Childress Klein, we find and implement solutions that are good for the environment and business, and we know our tenants expect us to employ sustainable practices,” says Jack Kennedy, chief engineer.

Here are some of Atlanta Galleria’s green initiatives currently under way.

Lighting: We’ve replaced all fixtures to accommodate higher-efficiency lamps, started recycling lamps to keep them (and potential contamination) out of landfills and upgraded to higher efficiency fluorescent lighting in parking decks.

Energy conservation:  Three of our buildings (100, 400, and 600) have the Energy Star designation, and two others (300 and 700) are in the process of achieving it.  We have an aggressive preventive maintenance program for HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) equipment to ensure maximum efficiency, and though we do offer HVAC on Saturday mornings, we only supply it to tenants who request it.

Cleaning:  Our janitorial contractor uses energy efficient vacuums, green cleaning products and other environmentally friendly practices. Paper towels and toilet tissue are made from recycled materials.

Recycling: Office workers can put all recyclable materials in desk-side bins. The only material that goes to the landfill is trash from break rooms and restrooms.

Water Conservation: We use “grey” water to clean windows and are installing low-flow fixtures and waterless urinals. We’ve chosen drought-tolerant landscaping and also use devices that measure the moisture level in the soil to help us determine whether our sprinklers need to be activated.

Alternative Transportation: We are served by the Cumberland Community Improvement District, which coordinates vanpools and other transportation alternatives for thousands of area commuters, including many working in our buildings.

What about LEED certification? While LEED is the buzzword in green building today, we’ve decided not to apply for the certification now. The LEED-EB (existing building) standard recently changed, so we’ve worked with a consultant to better understand the new rules’ impact. It’s best to wait for the process to stabilize. In the meantime, we’ve achieved the Energy Star rating, a prerequisite to LEED-EB.