Frank Wickstead of WicksteadWorks is a green Atlanta remodeler who likes to practice new eco-friendly technologies in his own home before using them with clients

Today, I would like to spotlight another of Our Green Atlantans – Frank Wickstead, who has built his home remodeling business with an eye for environmentally-friendly standards. Frank started WicksteadWorks seven years ago and has since racked up the awards. Most recently, he and his team earned the Georgia Institute of Technology’s Environmental Leadership Award for his commitment to green and high performance building standards as well as his commitment to education about the subject. The award celebrates an individual or group that has had a significant environmental impact via a long-term commitment, resulting in a body of exemplary work. Southface Energy Institute has also recognized Wickstead Works with back-to-back EarthCraft Renovator of the Year awards.

Here, I asked Frank a few questions about his inspiration, company, and his own green life…

Our Green Atlanta: When did you first become interested in green building and what sparked that interest?
Frank Wickstead: My interest in green building paralleled with my desire to provide our clients with the best product for their project dollar. The phrase “you get what you pay for” is very true in the world of construction. There are a million shortcuts that can be taken to reduce costs that result in a lesser product. That translates to less sustainable. It won’t last as long and requires more maintenance.

OGA: How did you start your company and how has it played out against your expectations?
FW: My background is design. My longterm goal was to have a design build firm to control the entire process. I am slowly but surely reaching the summit of what can be accomplished within my profession. The only negative realization has been that a process can not be written that encapsulates each client and project. A process as deeply personal as renovation much ebb and flow with each client to make everyone consider the project truly successful.

OGA: How do you teach others about green building?
FW: By example and with hard data. I gather utilities from past clients to make sure that we accomplished what we promised which is to provide our clients with as efficient a product as possible. I continue to be a teacher and student of building construction through my role as education chair with the HBA’s Green Building Council and as student at Georgia Tech’s Building Construction Master’s program which will prepare me to teach within that program as a retirement.

OGA: What have you found most rewarding about your career or the impact green building has had on your life?
FW: One of our first EarthCraft renovations involved cleaning up a swamp of a crawlspace that was, through the HVAC system, spewing mold into the home. After the project the 2 kid’s allergy symptoms were gone and have not returned. Stories like that make all the stresses of the profession with while.

OGA: What top improvement would you suggest to people looking to make an older home more environmentally-friendly?
FW: Add open cell spray foam to your attic and floor system and replace the HVAC to the proper size and with advanced filtration and humidity control.

OGA: What type of home do you live in? In what ways do you incorporate green living into your every day life?
FW: I live in a 50s ranch. I added a second story addition to EarthCraft standards. I wanted to show what could be done to a ranch that did not involve knocking it down and clearing the lot. It fits the neighborhood wonderfully and was well received. I am constantly testing new technologies within my own home prior to unleashing them on my clientele.

Melia Lesko (above) and her husband Tim are the brains behind their local composting company, Greenco Environmental

Historically, Southerners are passionate people, devoted to our way of life and our families. Even better is finding a family who’s lifestyle and business revolves around a dedication to environmentally-friendly practices and sustainability. Meet Melia and Tim Lesko (and Tim’s brother, their parents, Melia’s mom, etc.) who make up the team behind Greenco Environmental. Greenco is the Southeast’s leading organic composting facility and collects yard waste and restaurant scraps from metro Atlanta and the surrounding areas. They work with restaurants, universities, and landscaping companies to create the perfect blend of organic materials that, in a mere 90 days, is turned into a rich fertilizer.

In the beginning…
Greenco Environmental was born a few years ago out of both necessity and desire. In 2006, life presented Tim Lesko with the opportunity to start his own business. With a passion for landscaping, he tossed around the idea of starting a landscaping company. Tim talked to the Department of Agriculture who told him that he could take food and lawn waste and, within 90 days, turn it into high-quality compost. So Tim and Melia set out to bring commercial composting to Atlanta.

First, Greenco needed to have land for their composting facility. But not just any land. They needed land zoned for heavy industrial use, in addition to a special permit to operate a landfill. Acquiring a landfill permit is typically a 9-10 year process – Melia and Tim were awarded theirs in two years. While the permitting process was underway, the Leskos searched for their ideal acreage for the facility and found it in Barnesville, Georgia, and in July 2007, they had their groundbreaking ceremony.

With Ready Pac as their very first customer, Greenco started composting in December 2008. Melia broke the business down for me into three main parts: the wholesale / manufacturer hauling of waste (with the big trucks), the making of compost, and the selling of compost. In order to handle all aspects of the company, Melia and Tim built a team. If you were to go down to the composting facility in Barnesville, you would find the certified site supervisor, a part-time guy to turn the composting piles, and four drivers who come and go. You’ll also find Tim down there some days, checking on the operation. Also involved is Tim’s brother Russ and their parents as well as Melia’s mom, who’s official job title is “Chief Babysitter.” (For pictures of the composting facility, check out my previous post about Greenco Environmental.)

How commercial composting works…
Melia’s and Tim’s facility in Barnesville consists of 32 active acres, three acres of wetlands, and two composting pads. Generating organic fertilizer actually requires a specific recipe and sequence of events. For every 1 ton of food waste, you need 3 tons of wood waste. With the tonnage collected and consolidated on one of the pads, the piles must reach an internal temperature of 150 degress in the first three days, then be turned every day for 15 days, and then be turned once every 15 days for a month, and, finally, once a month. As time goes by, the piles shrink, making room for new piles on the pad. Once the process is complete, Greenco bags up the final product of high-quality compost and sells it wholesale to businesses (and if you’re interested in wholesale fertilizer, you can contact Greenco Environmental at 770.872.3777).

Does your restaurant compost?
Wondering if your favorite restaurant composts? Or looking for Atlanta restaurants that support eco-friendly practices? Here is a partial list of some of Greenco Environmental’s clients:

• Craft
• Maggiano’s
• Chops (who Melia pointed out is extremely dedicated)
• Ecco
• South City Kitchen (Midtown)
• El Taco
• Bold American Catering
• Buckhead Diner (who is also using paper straws and compostable serving gloves and, with a high volume of customers and quick turnover, is a sort-of poster child for composting)
• Atlanta Fish Market (where they compost their “heads, scales and tails” as Melia put it)
• Intercontinental Hotel in Buckhead
• Agnes Scott
• Georgia Tech (who has now gotten rid of their trash compactor since they recycle so much)
• Emory University
• Hormel (they compost their bacon and beans)

Greenco is also bringing on about one Buckhead Life Group restaurant per week, so this list will be growing by leaps and bounds in the next year and beyond. Melia works closely with Gloria of the Georgia Recycling Coalition as well as Holly Elmore of Green Foodservice Alliance. Tim and Melia are heavily involved in the Zero Waste Zones in Downtown, Midtown, and Buckhead.

For pictures and more information, you can read my previous post about Greenco Environmental here!

About Our Green Atlantans: This is a series of articles about eco-minded people in our city that are making a difference every day. They are passionate about the environment and their business and lifestyle reflects that. You may or may not have heard about their company and their efforts in the news because they work tirelessly behind the scenes to make our Atlanta a greener place. This is my small effort to tell those behind-the-scenes stories and to hopefully connect like-minded people to each other so we can accomplish our environmentally-driven goals faster!