Energy Conservation for Historic Homes
The Georgia Trust is pleased to announce a new program to promote environmental sustainability in historic homes across the state. The program combines advocacy and education to provide homeowners with the necessary tools to make significant and verifiable improvements to their home’s energy efficiency while maintaining its historic integrity.
Georgia Trust GREEN Workshop
Who is it for?
Anyone interested in energy conservation and historic preservation—particularly homeowners looking for opportunities to improve their historic home’s energy efficiency.
Do I have to attend if I want to participate in the Georgia Trust GREEN program?
Yes, participating in the education portion of the program is Step 1 toward certification. The workshop will cover lots of details, including the specific checklist that has been developed, how to set up a professional assessment if you want one, and how to document the improvements made to your home.
Visit our Historic Preservation Institute page for upcoming GREEN workshops and to see all of our workshop offerings.
Georgia Trust GREEN follows a three-step process to educate, guide, and certify energy conservation improvements for historic homes.
- Step One: Educate program participants on environmental sustainability and energy efficiency in historic buildings.
- Step Two: Guide homeowners through appropriate steps to improve their home by utilizing a checklist of improvements and connecting them with a professional assessment to identify priorities for energy conservation.
- Step Three: Certification as a Georgia Trust GREEN property once enough points have been earned based on the program checklist.
Benefits of Georgia Trust GREEN:
- Program is designed for historic homeowners, balancing energy conservation with preservation best practices.
- No barrier to participate—homeowners can attend the educational workshop before choosing to participate in the certification program.
- Certification is attainable over time, allowing homeowners to make incremental improvements based on their property’s needs and their budget.
What makes Georgia Trust GREEN different from other sustainability certifications?
The Georgia Trust has helped to create other certification programs that emphasize historic preservation. However, those programs were directed toward larger scale commercial buildings or residential properties that were undergoing wholesale rehabilitations, which a typical homeowner may not qualify for. Georgia Trust GREEN is specifically targeted to homeowners interested in improving the performance of their house, with many of the targeted improvements able to be done by the homeowners themselves.