Sustainable Future Center
Empowering individuals and communities to improve health and resilience by fostering a co-operative,
self-reliant learning community using permaculture principles.
About The Sustainable Future Center
The Sustainable Future Center is a unique non-profit working to build a more self-reliant,
resilient, and cooperative community, built on sustainable practices and permaculture
principles. To this end, the Sustainable Future Center offers education, support, resources,
and a safe venue for dedicated individuals, community organizations, and other non-profits to
gather and share. This allows us to actively tackle issues of poverty and environmental
stewardship.
Here, we envision a future where Knoxville works together towards a healthier, collaborative,
and sustainable future. Through our outreach projects, workshops, training seminars, and
community garden we are positioned to be a foundation of the South Knoxville community
and an indispensable resource for the entire East Tennessee region.
Vision: An Engaged Community Building a Sustainable Future
Mission: Empower individuals and communities to improve health and resilience by fostering
a co-operative, self-reliant learning community using permaculture principles.
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About David Bolt, Permaculture Enthusiast, Co-founder
The Sustainable Future Center Board Chair David Bolt has reached this point after
a 30–year career, first in software development and later in solar energy
installation. In 1996 David co-founded MarketLinx, a company that created the
first internet based multiple listing system and grew to controlling a 25% national
market share in 2003 when the company was purchased by First American.
Following MarketLinx, David spent eighteen months researching ways to live more
sustainably. Subsequently he formed Sustainable Future LLC in mid 2005.
Sustainable Future installed over 800 kw of solar power in Tennessee, offsetting
the burning of 2,000 lbs. of coal every day. Sustainable Future’s property is a net
producer of energy and now gets monthly checks rather than large bills from the
local utility. As for sustainable travel, David has driven his electric car nearly 80,000 miles using almost nothing but solar PV energy. He now drives a Tesla X. In early 2014, David’s interests began to focus on the field of permaculture design. After much reading he took Geoff Lawton’s on-line Permaculture Design Course, and later, spent six weeks working at Lawton’s permaculture site in Jordan. Along the way he created a plan to turn Sustainable Future’s building and property into a Permaculture Research Institute that would become part of a growing international network.
David was selected as a White House “Champion of Change in Corporate Environmental Sustainability” in 2012. That award recognized the central theme of David’s life and his career. He has long sought to eliminate waste, promote efficiency, and preserve the world for future generations. In his life and his business he has led by example, whether by converting his home to Net Zero energy, making his business a producer of energy, or driving a car fueled by the sun. Sustainable Future Center: the name is the vision. His work is to bring others along.
