Kevin describes the joint project BRSI and AIR have undertaken to upgrade the efficiency of 17 local restaurants and position them to achieve Green Certified Restaurant status.

1. Growth of a Green Movement in Asheville Restaurants The AIR Green Team

2. How we got started 3 original restaurants in the AIR Green Team in 2009 Green Sage – Randy Talley Rosetta’s Kitchen – Rosetta Star Corner Kitchen – Kevin Westmoreland Goal was to educate and provide basic, easy to implement ways for restaurants to save energy or reduce waste.

3. Simple things first No styrofoam Recycling Basic lighting changes Composting Door seals Information about Energy Star appliances

5. Business (Profit)

6. Community (People)Planet – Profit – People

7. The Second Stage Green Restaurant Association In 2009 there were only 3 GRA certified restaurants in NC. One – Posana Café – was in Asheville. There are only 78 restaurants in the NYC metro area that are certified (out of over 14,000) or .6%. 24 restaurants in Chicago, 19 in Los Angeles (in each of these metro areas several are chains) We have 18 AIR restaurants in the process of being certified out of less than 350 restaurants in Buncombe County or 5%

8. GRA partnership AIR Green Team worked with GRA to see what it would take to get a group of restaurants certified AIR negotiated a rate that is less than a third of what the normal rate to become certified was in 2009 Monthly billing – a large plus for the smaller restaurants Local assistance with certification

9. Goal Asheville will be the certified greenest restaurant city in the United States! (Already the most Celiac trained restaurant city)

10. Third Stage Funding for larger scale environmental changes for the AIR restaurants Search for funding through the CVB or at the NC state level BRSI partnership to try to win NC Green Grant Intense work led to BRSI and AIR being awarded the $258,000 grant Restaurants contributing $100,000

11. The grant Goal of reducing 3.4 billion BTU’s through solar panels, lighting upgrades, other basic energy saving installs 17 restaurants part of the process Contractor chosen Job creation Education component