Come and check out Earth Share's and BeltLine's tables on the concourse as they help to promote cleaning up the environment on Sept 2! Earth Share and BeltLine will have information and giveaways, so be sure to stop by!

How Has The Dream Gone Green?

Like many smaller companies, the Dream is still investigating ways to improve its own sustainability practices and does not claim to be the greenest company in Atlanta.

The team has make some significant commitments to promoting sustainability, including first choosing to purchase and renovate a downtown building on Walton St as the home of the team. Many staff members use MARTA to commute to work and the team pays for MARTA passes for employees. The location also allows staff to walk to Philips Arena for practices and games, reducing the number of car trips each day significantly.

The renovation of the building has included increasing insulation, installing new more efficient HVAC systems, replacing old lights with CFL fixtures and bulbs, and ordering new, more efficient windows for the entire building.

The team has installed a recycling program and is looking to expand the program for the entire building (other companies occupy other floors). Employee interest is high in this issue. As part of its community efforts, all unused shirts, supplies, etc. are all donated to Communities in Schools and other nonprofits to ensure reduced waste.

The team’s owner Ron Terwilliger is an outspoken supporter both financially and with his time for increasing affordable workforce housing options in urban areas, including leading an effort to create the Housting Opportunity Fund in Atlanta that is now the largest fund of its kind in the Southeast. Sustainable cities must have affordable housing options closer to where people work in order to reduce car trips that are of particular concern in cities like Atlanta that have air quality issues. Ron is global chair of Habitat for Humanity and also sponsors the Terwilliger Center for Workforce Housing at the Urban Land Institute

The team’s president Bill Bolen has served as a consultant for the city’s affordable housing initiatives and the more recent sustainability initiatives, as well as working as a lead consultant in the early stages of the BeltLine project.