The Towbes Group Property Garners SBCGB Certification

By Joshua Ayers, Senior Editor

Image courtesy of The Towbes Group

Goleta, Calif.—Santa Barbara, Calif.-based The Towbes Group has announced that its Goleta, Calif., community, Encina Meadows, has been awarded green business certification by the Santa Barbara County Green Business office for its efforts in reducing waste, as well as energy and water consumption in the community’s common areas.

In an effort to reduce waste, Encina Meadows has replaced all disposable kitchen products in the community’s clubhouse with reusable products such as ceramic plates and washable silverware.

In the management office, the community has added recycle bins at every desk and has adopted a “Scan When You Can” motto in an effort to minimize unnecessary copying. Additionally, the community’s modified purchasing policy mandates that only post-consumer recycled paper products may be purchased and that those types of supplies must be purchased in bulk to reduce the amount of non-useable packaging material that would otherwise end up in a landfill. The efforts are expected to account for about an 85 percent diversion of waste.

Another component of the certification addressed the need for reduced energy and water consumption. Encina Meadows installed a drip irrigation system with smart meters to maintain the community’s landscaping and installed ultra-low flow toilets in its employee restrooms. Energy reductions were met with the installation of light sensors and timers in the common areas.

The community, which was built in the mid 1970s,  has also taken steps to only engage with vendors that maintain green business practices.

“Going green is a process that keeps evolving and reenergizes its participants to stay engaged and constantly look for new ways to approach common practices,” says Encina Meadows Community Manager Nadra Ehrman. “We are also proud of our double pane window project, which will collectively save our residents an estimated $50,000 and decrease electricity usage by 884,676 kWh annually.”

The certification is one step closer to The Towbes Group’s goal of having all of its residential communities green business certified by the Santa Barbara County Green Business office by 2016. The company owns and operates residential and commercial properties throughout Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties.