While it’s often reported when government officials are “seeing red,” Douglas County officials these days are “seeing green.”

Douglas County is seeking Green Community Program certification from the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC), an honor which shows the county is doing everything it can to conserve energy and natural resources.

Jamie Bennett, assistant to the county administrator, said the county hopes to receive the certification from the ARC next month. It will join only three other metro communities, Cobb County and the cities of Alpharetta and Decatur, in receiving this honor.

“The Green Community program is voluntary for governments in the 10-county metro region,” Bennett said. “Local governments earn points toward certification by implementing specific policies and practices that reduce the environment impact.”

Categories that go toward earning the certification include green buildings, energy efficiency, green power, water, trees and green space, transportation, recycling and waste reduction, land use, education and outreach and innovation.

Mark Teal, county director of development services, said the county has already been using many of these green measures for some time.

“It takes a minimum of 175 points to get the ARC award,” Teal said. “We are at about 200-210 now with two more items to get approved. We were already doing a lot of these things but we didn’t have them documented.”

He said his department is working with the local home builders to write new “green” codes which promote energy efficiency in residential housing.

Mark Price, county facilities manager, pointed out several ways the county is saving money and resources to become “greener”:

• all toilets, shower heads and faucets were replaced with low water flow fixtures;

• office workers turn off their lights when leaving at the end of the day;

• paper towel dispensers in courthouse restrooms have sensors so that only one towel is dispensed at a time;

• restroom lights remain off until someone enters;

• all offices put unused paper in recycling binds, with the county collecting about 150 tons of paper each year, saving 2,550 trees and about 250 cubic yards of landfill space;

• traffic signals are synchronized so that cars have fewer stops and less idling;

• the county is going to smaller, more energy efficient vehicles;

• the county has 35 acres of green space per 1,000 residents, well above the 20 acres required for certification;

• an irrigation system which prevents water from turning on when it’s raining or the ground has sufficient moisture;

• use of florescent and LED lighting which consumes less power;

• and reduction of after hours use of heating and air conditioning.

Price said the new 911 emergency operations building is being constructed with a system to use rain water to flush toilets.

“The green program is beneficial in both saving the environment and saving the county money,” Price said. “The Green Community Program also benefits the community by fostering civic pride and creating a positive image of a place to live and conduct business.”