Description
The ReBuildATL Coalition coordinates a shared vision and collaborative action to promote economic empowerment, climate resilience, and a circular, regenerative economy in Atlanta’s renowned but historically marginalized westside communities. Building on local assets, ancestral knowledge, intergenerational learning, and lived experiences of residents, activities focus on:
- Training residents in building deconstruction to create job opportunities and reclaim valuable materials
- Reducing energy costs for legacy residents through weatherization and solar deployment
- Creating affordable housing using reclaimed materials
- Supporting local entrepreneurship to build long-term community wealth
- Leading essential sustainability and waste reduction efforts for creation of viable circular economies
Long-term, the Coalition aims to increase the capacity of CBOs to lead this work and strengthen the fabric of the network to support them.
The Coalition is housed at Lifecycle Building Center and follows the lead of community-based organizations deeply embedded in their communities, with support from academic institutions, industry partners and local government agencies. Core members include Lifecycle Building Center, West Atlanta Watershed Alliance, Ayika Solutions, ReGen Community Advisory, Georgia Tech SCoRE, Southface Institute, and City of Atlanta Sustainability Ambassadors. Georgia Tech SCoRE was a founding member of the Coalition and co-leads Coalition Governance.
SCoRE/BBISS Lead
Jennifer Hirsch, Senior Director, SCoRE
Partnership History
The Coalition was founded in 2022 with an EPA grant to stand up a workforce development program rooted in reusing building and construction materials and begin growing the reuse economy in Atlanta.
The pilot program, Breaking Barriers Through Deconstruction, trained 12 westside residents from ages 19 to 60.
In 2023, the Coalition received a Community Clean Energy Coalition Prize from the U.S. Dep’t of Energy to support home energy efficiency and solar deployment to reduce energy burden for legacy residents as well as strengthen the capacity of the Coalition to do this work together. Members are now deeply involved in the City of Atlanta's local building efficiency initiatives.
Supporting community-led Resilience Hubs is a core component of the Coalition’s vision, and members are also now engaging in our Community Resilience Initiative.
Disciplines & Faculty
Faculty involved have primarily hailed from Design and Liberal Arts, but all disciplines are welcome.
Other Partners Involved
City of Atlanta, Re:Purpose Savannah, Build Reuse, Celestial Care Solutions
Keywords
Built environment, sustainability, regenerative economy, circular economy, community-led development, workforce training
Associated SDGs
8 (Decent Work & Economic Growth), 9 (Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure), 11 (Sustainable Cities & Communities), 12 (Responsible Consumption & Production)