City of Dunwoody Sustainability Heroes Announced

Griffith Engineering and Mary Keesee are being honored for their commitment to the environment and community.

Dunwoody, GA – April 21, 2020 – To help mark Earth Day, the City of Dunwoody is announcing the corporate and individual winners of the 2019 Sustainability Hero Awards. Nominated by members of the community, Griffith Engineering and Mary Keesee were selected for the honor by the City of Dunwoody Sustainability Committee.

“Even in the midst of a pandemic, we want to recognize these leaders in sustainability,” said Michael Cowan, chair of Dunwoody’s Sustainability Committee and executive director of the Dunwoody Nature Center. “They serve as examples to all as we look more closely at the roles we play in supporting our community and protecting the environment.”

Mary Keesee was selected as the individual Sustainability Hero Award winner for her work as a volunteer for the Sustainability Committee’s watershed quality initiative. Once a week, she goes out to collect water samples from the Nancy Creek tributary that runs under the Dunwoody MARTA station. She also gathers the samples from a total of 10 Dunwoody collection sites and delivers them to the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper lab for testing. The data collected over the past year has prompted DeKalb County to fix at least two major sewage spills.

“I feel like I am keeping myself accountable to sustainability every week when I deliver the samples for testing,” Mary Keesee said. “I can educate people about the process when they see me taking the samples. Last week, one fellow asked if I was testing for the coronavirus.”

Griffith Engineering was selected as the corporate Sustainability Hero Award winner for performing energy audits, at no charge, at several Dunwoody park buildings. This effort helped Dunwoody upgrade its Green Communities status with the Atlanta Regional Commission to Gold. The company also promotes volunteerism. Last year, a team from Griffith Engineering spent a day helping to remove non-native invasive plants at the Dunwoody Nature Center.

“It is great to see Dunwoody taking proactive steps to help ensure plans are in place to optimize future building and energy investments with long term sustainability goals in mind,” said Chad Griffith, a Dunwoody resident and company founder. “Griffith Engineering is honored to have been given the opportunity to play a role in helping Dunwoody achieve the milestone of Gold Certification.”

The award winners are traditionally recognized during Dunwoody’s State of the City event. The 2020 event had to be canceled due to concerns about the spread of COVID-19. As a result, the winners will be recognized during a future Dunwoody City Council meeting.

# # #

For more information regarding the City of Dunwoody, please contact Jennifer Boettcher, Communications Director: 678.382.6881, Jennifer.Boettcher@dunwoodyga.gov.

Return to list.