Mayor Kasim Reed announced that the City of Atlanta was recognized by the Atlanta Regional Commission for leadership in implementing policies and practices which promote sustainability. During the ARC’s January board meeting yesterday, the City of Atlanta was upgraded to a Certified Gold Green Community.

The Green Communities Program is a voluntary certification program for jurisdictions in the 10-county Atlanta region to encourage local governments to become more sustainable. The City of Atlanta recertified as an ARC Certified Silver Green Community in 2013, after first certifying at the Bronze level in 2009.

“Our upgrade to a Certified Gold Green Community is evidence of my Administration’s commitment to being a top tier sustainable city, and I am very proud of this certification,” said Mayor Reed. “Thanks to strong public-private partnerships and an excellent record of performance by my Office of Sustainability, we continue to meet our energy and water use reduction goals and organizations such as the Atlanta Regional Commission have taken notice.”

Achievements in sustainability include:

-Becoming the first city in the Southeast to pass a comprehensive Buildings Energy Efficiency Ordinance, which requires energy and water benchmarking and audits for large, private commercial buildings.

-Adopting bicycle and pedestrian-friendly policies in the Connect Atlanta Plan, with a goal of creating sustainable travel modes through building and maintaining sidewalks and a system of bicycle routes.

-Launching an electric vehicle fleet program which will include 50 electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles.

-Executing the Atlanta’s Power to Change plan which outlines 10 sustainability impact areas which the City and community can work together to improve.

“The Office of Sustainability is very pleased to upgrade from a Certified Silver Green Community to a Certified Gold Green Community,” said Stephanie Stuckey Benfield, Director for the office. “I would like to thank our more than 300 stakeholders across Atlanta, representing neighborhoods, schools, businesses, community organizations and government agencies who helped us achieve this recognition.”

“The City of Atlanta is to be commended for making their communities more sustainable places,” said Kerry Armstrong, ARC Board Chairman. “Your efforts to conserve energy, reduce waste and protect natural resources set an example for the entire region.”

ARC also recognized Rockdale County and the cities of Peachtree Corners, Norcross and Woodstock for certifying or upgrading their certification in ARC’s Green Communities program.