Talk about a power move. This year, the Asheville-Buncombe Air Quality Agency recognized Green Built Alliance with the Clean Air Excellence Award for its Appalachian Offsets program.
The program helps individuals and businesses calculate their carbon emissions and purchase carbon offsets, which fund renewable energy projects for local schools, churches, nonprofits, and affordable housing providers.
Appalachian Offsets has installed solar panels at Isaac Dickson Elementary, St. Paul Missionary Church, and most recently, United Way. These three projects combined reduce 365 tons of carbon dioxide, 0.11 tons of sulfur dioxide, and 0.17 tons of nitrogen oxides per year.
Beyond solar arrays, the program also completes energy-efficient lighting and mechanical projects to help local organizations save money and put it back into programming.
Appalachian Offsets is just one of the initiatives from Green Built Alliance helping the environmental nonprofit’s plan to transition Buncombe County to 100% renewable energy by 2042 — check out the rest of the work.
