Doors were constructed using recycled resin and low-VOC paint and flooring aid the indoor air quality. By using reclaimed cabinets, they were able to forego new materials. A high-efficiency mechanical system worked more efficiently than originally envisioned. This enabled ORA to surpass the LEED Silver rating that had been designed for and achieve LEED Gold.

“We’re all about providing a unique, comfortable experience for our patients,” said Reggie Thurston, DDS, owner of ORA Dental Studio Wicker Park. “And that’s what green design does. This is something you can’t experience anywhere else in Chicago and is available few other places in the nation.”

Many aspects of a modern dental facility come with the benefit of better efficiency and the promotion of health. The use of digital photography, for example, eliminates petrochemical waste and the need for lead aprons and fittings. Dry dental vacuums reduce water use and steam sterilizers, cut chemical use and improving air quality.

ORA Dental Studio currently has three other locations in the West Loop, South Loop and Gold Coast.

10 and 120 S. Riverside Plaza, which together earned the 2011-2012 TOBY Earth Award. Image courtesy of Behringer Harvard.

The Earth Award went to 10 and 120 South Riverside Plaza, owned and managed by Behringer Harvard. Constructed between 1965 and 1967, the 21-story twin towers have received an Energy Star rating from the EPA of between 84 and 90 for the past four years. The USGBC has also awarded both properties a LEED-EBOM Silver rating.

The winner in the 100,000 – 249,000 Square Feet Category was the brutalist gem along the riverfront, 55 West Wacker Drive, which is managed by MB Real Estate and owned by 55 West Wacker Owner’s Association. The next largest size category, 250,000 – 499,000 Square Feet, went to the CBRE-managed 303 West Madison Street. Owned by 303 Madison Chicago, LLC, the 24-year-old structure is notable for its stained glass lobby window.

One South Dearborn won in the 500,000 – One Million Square Feet Category. Managed by Hines and owned by South Dearborn, LLC, the building features unique angles and an interesting topper. A relative newcomer to the loop, the Hyatt Center at 71 South Wacker Drive won the largest size category, Over One Million Square Feet. Owned by the Irvine Company and managed by Jones Lang LaSalle, this building is recognizable for its football-shaped cross section and bamboo-filled lobby.

Other awards went to The Rookery in the Historical Building category, 101 North Wacker Drive for Renovated Building and The Realtor Building in the Corporate Facility category.

“This year’s TOBY Award recipients are truly leaders in their respective categories and demonstrate exemplary management and operations of Chicago’s commercial buildings,” said Robert Six, BOMA/Chicago president. “These office buildings drive our economy and outstanding property management is essential to ensuring Chicago remains a global center of commerce.”

BOMA/Chicago TOBY Award winners will be invited to participate in the North Central Regional TOBY competition, where they will compete against local TOBY winners from cities in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan and Ohio. Regional winners qualify for the BOMA International TOBY Awards, one of the highest honors in the commercial real estate industry. Last year, the FBI Chicago Regional Office won a BOMA International TOBY Award in the Earth Award Category.

The Wrigley Building, which the USGBC highlighted in their report, after the iconic structure earned LEED Silver in 2011.

A new ranking of US states by green buildings finds Illinois in the top ten. The USGBC’s list ranked states for LEED-certified commercial and institutional green buildings per capita. The District of Columbia lead the nation, with more than 31 square feet of LEED-certified space per person last year.

Due mostly to its density compared to the fifty states, D.C far outpaced the nation with new LEED space last year comparable in size to one small bathroom per person. Colorado and Illinois, the next highest states with 2.74 and 2.69 square feet per person respectively, garnered enough space for a bathmat for each resident.

Still, Illinois beat out more densely-populated states like New York, California and Connecticut. The latter is three times more dense than Illinois, but had less than half of the green development last year.

“Being in the top three is a testament to the diversity of stakeholders from across Illinois who understand the significant environmental, economic and social benefits related to LEED certification,” said Doug Widener, Executive Director of the Illinois Chapter of USGBC. “I applaud Illinois’ diverse green building community on this outstanding achievement.”

Last December, USGBC announced that LEED-certified existing buildings outpaced their newly built counterparts by 15 million square feet cumulatively. A focus on heightened building performance through green operations and maintenance is essential to cost-effectively driving improvements in the economy and the environment.

Other top states include Virginia and Washington, with 2.69 and 2.42 square feet of LEED-certified space per person, respectively. The top ten LEED states per capita, including D.C., are below.

Photo: David J. Laporte

Courtesy Chicago Department of Aviation

The project was designed to reduce delays and increase capacity at the airfield. Spend some money now, the thinking goes (the current OMP budget is estimated at $8 billion), and make more later once O’Hare’s prominence as a transportation hub is carried on into the 21st century.

“The historic O’Hare Modernization Project has received more federal funding than any other airport reconstruction project in history,” said U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL). “That remarkable federal investment fuels O’Hare’s position as the economic engine for the region, solidifies Chicago’s role as a global transportation hub and will pay dividends for our state and nation for years to come.”

As we’ve seen before, however, the needs of capitalism and conservation need not deviate. In keeping with the city’s standards of environmental stewardship, the OMP created a sustainable design manual in 2003 to guide the green aspects of the airport modernization.

The manual calls for myriad sustainable practices in the areas of site management, water and energy use, indoor air quality, facility operations, construction materials and others.

Since then, renovations have already begun at O’Hare in what is one of the largest public works projects in the nation. Further, the 2003 design manual has been revised; this October the city issued a Sustainable Airport Manual (SAM), which they describe as a “living document” that will evolve as new technologies, designs and principles emerge.

The city also expects the SAM to guide the construction and renovation of airports across the world. Rosemarie Andolino, Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Aviation (CDA), hopes that the new manual and the changes wrought at O’Hare “will continue to evolve as a benchmark for environmental stewardship in design and construction.”

The modernization plan will take several years to complete over various phases. Some of the work has already concluded, however. 2008 was a busy year, with a 3,000-foot extension to the airport’s busiest runways, one brand new runway and a new air traffic control tower. All of these projects opened on or ahead of schedule and under budget.

Courtesy Chicago Department of Aviation

The tower’s cantilever design and 30-degree angle windows provide more than just great views of the green roof below. According to Bill Mumper, air traffic manager at the airport, the angled glass keeps rainwater off so that all but the most violent storms won’t occlude visibility.

Also completed in 2008 was the first new runway at the airport since 1971. At 7,500 feet long and 150 feet wide, runway 9L-27R is capable of handling the next generation of very large aircraft, such as the Airbus A-380 and Boeing 787.

Incredibly, 100% of all excavated concrete and asphalt waste was reused onsite, according to John Patelski, Managing Director and President of Engineering and Construction at Epstein, the Chicago-based engineering firm that led the runway’s design. Half of other construction and demolition debris was diverted from landfills, while more than half of the new construction materials were acquired locally. minimizing off-site transportation impacts.

Where possible, existing navigational equipment and lighting were salvaged and reused. Landscaping of the runway expansion was one of the first uses of new low-maintenance, tall fescue seed mix. This mix eliminated the need to import over 17,000 cubic yards of topsoil. The site also features waste re-use and recycling and water-efficient landscaping. The developers were conscious of sustainable energy design by using rapidly renewable resources.

The newest feature to the main terminal parking garage opened this year: a public electric vehicle (EV) charging station. Capable of fully charging an electric vehicle in approximately four to eight hours, the station was installed as part of a project, the first and largest of its kind in the US, of 280 city-wide EV charging stations. The Chicago Department of Environment and a private company, 350Green, which installs and maintains the stations, plan on expanding the program at both airports and elsewhere in the city.

A Federal Express warehouse at O’Hare has also joined in. The 175,000 square foot vegetated roof atop the FedEx Cargo Relocation Facility is the largest freestanding green roof in the city and the second largest at an airport in the world.

Designed and developed by Intrinsic Landscaping, Inc., the FedEx Cargo building is one of 12 green roof structures between O’Hare International and Midway Airport. FedEx calculates that this structure will save 20 cents per square foot of green roof per year on energy costs alone and will absorb approximately two million gallons of storm water each year.

The ability of green roofs to retain rainwater and curb the urban heat island effect are especially apt for an airport, where a large percentage of the footprint is impervious concrete.

Photo: Joseph Yaroch

One highly visible green addition to passengers walking through Concourse G is a new aeroponic garden. A joint effort between the CDA and HMSHost, O’Hare’s food service provider, the urban garden will provide produce for the airport’s restaurants including Tortas Frontera, Wicker Park Seafood & Sushi, Blackhawks Restaurant and Tuscany. Vegetables include Swiss chard, lettuce, habanero peppers and green beans, as well as herbs like basil, cilantro, dill, parsley, chives, thyme, oregano and even edible flowers.

“Producing and purchasing locally grown foods supports the CDA’s commitment to sustainability by strengthening the local economy and job market, providing a unique learning opportunity for travelers and reducing urban sprawl, traffic congestion, habitat loss and pollution from transportation of produce,” said Andolino. The eight-foot tall aeroponic towers require no weed-pulling, use two-thirds less water than conventional gardens and produce a higher yield per square foot.

Midway Airport will soon follow suit with a new composting program for the 13 restaurants that operate there. Under the program, all of the restaurants at Midway will collect pre-consumer food waste, which will then be delivered to an off-site, certified composting facility in the Chicago area for later use as fertilizer.

Since it is so large in scope, the modernization project is only partly done despite years of work. The CDA recently announced plans for a massive solar panel installation, which would supply renewable energy to the airport while helping to grow the region’s alternative energy market. Up to 60 acres of airport land will soon sport ground-mounted solar panels.

Future plans also call for a fueling station that would supply multiple alternative fuels such as compressed natural gas, biodiesel, ethanol and electric vehicle charging to commercial and private vehicles at and around O’Hare. Dozens of taxis making more than 3,000 trips to O’Hare have already been using compressed natural gas as part of the city’s Green Taxi Program which launched in August.

As the airport modernization continues, another new control tower will be built. Plans call for the tower to go up by 2015, in time to accommodate heightened air traffic on a new runway. The FAA has committed $3.4 million for the design of the new facility, and in keeping with the commitments built into the OMP, it will be constructed with green materials and practices.

Ten years ago, the city of Chicago introduced its Energy Conservation Code, based largely on the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC). The 2001 Chicago Energy Code was written to increase savings by lessening energy drain both commercially and residentially.

In that time, it has been revised twice: in 2006 and 2009. These revisions have seen some modest gains in efficiency. The 2009 edition, for example, contains a 15% increase in overall energy savings beyond the 2006 book.

New sections have been added over the years, like 18-13-506.6.2 which discusses exterior building light power densities. Section 18-13-505.7 states that in buildings having individual dwelling units, provisions shall be made to determine the electrical energy consumed by each tenant by separately metering individuals units.

The major differences between the different versions of the Chicago Energy Code have covered disparate subtrades. Section 18-13-101, for example, discusses the different slope of roofs and the materials used in each one. Section 18-13-402 covers the building thermal envelope to limit infiltration, fenestration air leakage and sealing recessed light fixtures to limit air leakage between conditioned and unconditioned space.

While Section 18-13-503.4 deals with hydronic systems using 3-pipe systems, two-pipe changeover and water loop heat pump systems, 18-13-503.2 talks about the duct construction, using either low-pressure duct systems, medium-pressure duct systems or high-pressure duct systems.

An addition to section 18-13-404 authorizes the Building Commissioner to require time-of-use pricing in energy cost calculations when dealing with a proposed residence. Once the residence is shown to have an annual energy cost or usage that is less than or equal to that of the standard reference design, there are compliance software tools that can generate a report that documents that the proposed design has low annual energy cost.

In 2012, the Chicago Energy Code will become even more stringent. One consequence of accepting federal stimulus funding is that Illinois must be in compliance with the latest version of the IECC. Illinois has decided to renew on a three-year cycle, meaning that Illinois, and all of its municipalities, must comply with the 2012 IECC next year.

There is an exception for Chicago, however. Being a home rule government, Chicago is awarded the option of doing more than the minimum standard. For most other municipalities, the state requirements have both a floor and a ceiling; they cannot do more and they cannot do less. But Chicago may, and likely will, create a higher standard than what is going on at the state level.

This is not apropos of nothing. The 2006 version of the IECC divided the country into geographic zones. Chicago physically lies in Zone 5, but the city adopted the standards as they related to Zone 6, which is climatically equivalent to Milwaukee. Because of this, changing to a new edition of the IECC is not as difficult, as Chicago has already crafted a higher standard for itself.

One of the biggest changes coming in the next edition, according to Beth Scanlan, Director of Code Development for the Chicago Department of Buildings, has to do with mechanical systems, which weren’t addressed as fully in the past. Also, the now optional blower test to detect a building’s air infiltration problem areas will become required.

Overall, the next edition of the Chicago Energy Conservation Code should see an increase in energy savings similar to earlier versions. “There is an expectation of an additional 15% savings to jump from 2009 to 2012,” said Scanlan. “So we are talking about a 30% increase in efficiencies and cost savings within a six year time period. That’s a pretty significant jump.”

Registered energy professionals—architects and engineers who have been vetted by the city to pre-approve drawings as being energy code compliant prior to submitting for a permit—will also see changes soon as well. “There will probably be additional enforcements put in place in terms of both plan review and inspections,” said Scanlan, adding that those who are already registered with the city will very likely have to recertify once the new version has been adopted.

All of these ordinances have been established to make Chicago more energy efficient. Our wise usage of the energy economy is essential to Chicago staying competitive. Aggressive improvement of energy efficiency in all of Chicago’s buildings, both residential and commercial, is an economic necessity that we cannot overlook.

Photo: Valerie Miller

It may sound noble. I could say I wanted to take a stand for energy consumption but the truth is, I live in London and all of this is normal. No one has dryers (or very few). People look at me a little funny when I ask for a plastic bag at the checkout and since December 2010, people have rented a bike 8,811,527 times instead of driving to work.

I am a Chicagoan turned European. Moving to London in January of 2011, I knew adjustments would need to be made. Modern conveniences today dictate that whatever we can get done faster, better and without making a negative impact on our environment means it’s the way forward. I’m here to argue that sometimes slowing down, thinking and making a plan actually lead to a fuller, more eco-friendly life.

Laundry

Partly because houses are smaller, most homes do not have a laundry room. Washing machines are viewed as a typical kitchen appliance. A single washing machine; some are a dual wash/dry but none are two individual units. I guiltily admit that I do not enjoy this. Washing my clothes and then having to either hang them outside on the line, or inside on a clothes rack (as you know, it rains a lot in London) make the process of laundry a little more time consuming. After all, 79% of American households have a tumble dryer, compared to 45% in the UK.

After the initial battle, I realized I was washing things that didn’t need to be washed so soon. Knowing the time it takes to wash, dry and put away made me re-evaluate how I wash my clothes. I consume less energy not only from having no dryer but from washing less clothes in general. Back in the US, one non-profit trying to bring back clothesline cool: The Laundry List.

Photo: Valerie Miller

Groceries

Each time I go back to visit the US, I see more grocery stores promoting use of reusable bags, but ample access to plastic bags at every checkout. When I shop in London, I have to ask for a plastic bag at the register. Sometimes I even get a bit of a look from the checkout person when I ask for several bags. In October of this year, the country of Wales actually instilled a 5p tax on each plastic bag used.

After stats came out this fall that plastic bag use went up this year in the UK, a plastic bag ban was even under discussion. It’s now second nature for me to grab my cloth shopping bag. Deep down, I know some carry the reusable bag because it’s trendy but deep down, do we care why they do it? The need for people to “be seen” may be self-glorifying, but why not?

Photo: David James Killock

Bike Share

Barclays Bank sponsored a bike sharing program to test run in July of 2010. After huge popularity, the program opened for public use in December 2010. Since then the weekly membership is going up along with the number of bikes that are available to London commuters. For a small fee, you can unlock a bike in one location and park it in another. It’s typical to see someone pedaling by with a Barclays bike (great marketing for them, great service for us). Everybody wins.

I may not have a choice in some of these areas, but you do. Try one of these items and report back. Enjoy the simple pleasures.

Valerie Miller was born Iowan, is a Chicagoan emeritus and as of January 2011, now a Londoner. While longing for a live game at Wrigley Field, she’s traded it for the serenity of freelancing abroad. Her background is commercial real estate, social media and marketing. Follower her on twitter at @diverseyharbor.

Photo: David B. Gleason

“Cities recognize parks are good for their economies. They’re no longer nice things to have, but a must,” said Will Rogers, President and Chief Executive of the nonprofit Trust for Public Land (TPL), a national conservation group based in San Francisco. Many case studies show a direct correlation between business growth for start-ups and creative companies as well as increased health benefits directly adjacent to these parks.

The Canadian Pacific Railway owns the elevated tracks, but the rails have been train-free for over a decade. Ben Helphand, president of the Friends of the Bloomingdale Trail, and Beth White, Director of TPL’s Chicago office have worked with project planners and volunteers. “It’s much more than just a trail,” said Helphand. “I see it as a thing with infinite capacity.”

Their vision is to transform the rail corridor to a green parkway that would seamlessly connect 37 blocks and four communities. “[The railroad line] has served as a physical barrier for so long between the communities,” said White. “The trail is a way for the communities to work together and learn about each other. It’s really breaking barriers in a different way.”

The project has seen an increase in attention over the past year because of a campaign pledge by Mayor Rahm Emanuel to see the project come to life during his first term. Just last month, the trail’s design and engineering study was commissioned. This will identify the costs involved and devise a more accurate timeline of the project’s completion.

Structural engineering firm ARUP, notable for the “Water Cube” at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, will design the trail and gather public input throughout the process. They will inventory the conditions of the bridges, perform environmental impact studies and make construction plans. Their work is expected to be completed in 2012.

Photo: Payton Chung

Alderman Roberto Maldonado (26th) lives within walking distance of the trail. As an advocate of the plan, he plans to do his weekly runs on it when it opens. “I would like it done tomorrow, if I could,” said Maldonado. “It’s a wonderful and different level of open space.”

However, not all residents are as excited about the project. Longtime Bucktown resident Joan Fox, whose house is feet from the corridor, remembers when trains would bring circus animals to town. She claims that all this publicity about the trail has brought nothing but an influx in users and crime with vagrants to the area. Her neighbors said that their buildings have been tagged with graffiti, rocks have thrown through windows and they have experienced several break-ins.

“Three feet away, you can hear them snoring,” Fox said. “I didn’t really want them living right against my house and making music into the morning hours and going to the bathroom outside my children’s window.”

Fox said she will support the project if the concerns of those who live along the trail are taken into account. “The idea is great; it’s just how will safety measures and security measures be incorporated for everyone.”

When the trail is completed, it will be owned and maintained by the Chicago Park District and the Friends of the Bloomingdale Trail will be its stewards. However, TPL is negotiating and acquiring key pieces of land which they will hold prior to turning it over to the park district. TPL also helps with coordination between all parties involved, which, in addition to the Friends and the Park District includes the Chicago Department of Transportation and the Chicago Department of Housing and Economic Development.

At this point, the total cost of the project is tough to estimate, according to Joseph Bornstein, Project Manager for the Chicago Park District, because the engineering studies have yet to be completed and the subsequent work on all of the 37 bridges has to be identified.

White said that approximately $2 to 10 million has been invested thus far, with 10% of that coming from private donations and the rest a mixture of public funds and grants. She says the pre-engineering estimate for the entire project could be about $75 million but cannot give finalized numbers because it could change on the outcome of the design and engineering study.

As for now, Helphand and White say that the communities are benefiting from the planning. Albany Whipple Park was dedicated in June and is already blooming with kids playing, dogs barking and bicycles. “What’s so exciting for us is the recognition of how important parks are to community health – economically, physically and spiritually,” said White. “It’s really fascinating to see how much people care about their parks.”

The John Marshall Law School

The school offers JD and other graduate degrees in a variety of curricula, such as property law, trial advocacy and legal writing; U.S. News & World Report recently ranked the institution sixth in the nation in this latter category. Starting in January 2012, JMLS will now also offer a new JD Certificate in Sustainability Law through its Center for Real Estate Law.

“Sustainable development […] meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs,” said Celeste Hammond, director of the Center for Real Estate Law at JMLS. “Only a small number of lawyers will specialize in sustainability law, but most business or commercial real estate lawyers need to know about the implications and consequences that sustainability, the green building movement and climate change will have on the real estate industry.”

The new program, which is a response to increased demand from students and employers alike, allows law students to concentrate on the emerging, interdisciplinary area of sustainability and its increasing importance in real estate, transactional and regulatory work. “The large firms are seeking to do more in-house training of their attorneys in this area, encouraging them to take the LEED AP test, for example,” said Hammond.

JMLS already offers courses in sustainability law to the more advanced Master of Laws (LLM) and Master of Science (MS) degree candidates. “All of our programs run the gamut from taking students who are studying law for first time to those who are already attorneys to those who are not attorneys but want to know more about legal risk in commercial real estate transactions,” said Hammond.

Starting about five years ago, both students and professors discovered on their site visits to corporate counsel offices in real estate and development firms that sustainability was a growing concern. Starting in 2009, JMLS began offering new courses, including historic preservation and energy law, for LLM and MS degrees.

The new JD sustainability certificate is an outgrowth of the Center for Real Estate’s overall sustainability initiative. Aimed not at established attorneys and professionals but at law students, the program charts the landscape for those who are interested in possibly specializing in sustainability law.

Many 1Ls come to JMLS with a background or special interest in real estate, engineering and architecture. Mostly due to the efforts of this last group, JMLS now hosts a student chapter of the USGBC. These student chapters, a relatively new endeavor of the USGBC, help students integrate sustainability themes into their coursework as well as advocate for sustainable practices and policies at their institutions.

The new sustainability certificate curriculum consists of required courses in energy law, environmental law, local government law, real estate transactions, sustainability in modern real estate transactions and a sampling of electives in real estate, environmental and government regulation law. In order to earn this certificate, candidates must complete a minimum of 25 credits in the sustainability curriculum, with 13 required credits and 12 elective credits.

For example, next spring, Fred Bosselman, Professor Emeritus at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law and Mark Burkland, a Partner with Holland & Knight LLP, will teach a seminar titled Energy Development Projects—Three Actual Case Studies. That course is open to J.D. students as well as attorneys and other professionals who wish to learn about energy law in the context of real estate projects.

Sustainability, such as water preservation, has also permeated other parts of the school. The Braun Lecture and Symposium—an annual lecture at JMLS that each year discusses a different topic, such as the death penalty or the history of activism—will host a conference next year on implementation of the Great Lakes Compact, the multi-state, legally-binding agreement regarding water management in the Great Lakes Basin.

“The law school decided that the topic of water diversion out of the Great Lakes was important enough,” said Hammond. “The Great Lakes Compact is now about two years old and the question now is what importance will it have? Is it being enforced?” The next Braun Lecture is scheduled for March 28th, 2011.

One site will become a soccer field with walking trails. The other will host organic beans and tomatoes. Both sites are former contaminated brownfields that comprise the first new green spaces in more than 80 years in a community that ranks second-worst in Chicago in available open space. LVEJO and community members hope that these sites can become catalysts for local anti-obesity and climate change efforts.

This is the first large-scale community garden within the neighborhood. Designed for gardening, learning and socializing, the half-acre parcel at 2727 S. Troy will be a place that all residents can engage their love of gardening.

Components of the plan include a central plaza, children’s garden, a crop preparation area and raised planting beds where gardeners can grow their vegetables. In addition, the plan also calls for amenities that will incorporate a cooking oven, pergolas for shade, benches and places for growing pumpkins and other vines. Not only will the garden be a place to showcase produce, it will be an educational destination.

The plan was commissioned by the City of Chicago as part of its effort to facilitate urban agriculture on city-owned property. The plan was developed by Chicago-based WRD Environmental with input from Little Village residents. Chicago will convey the site to NeighborSpace, a nonprofit land trust that helps community groups protect and secure gardens, parks and other open spaces.

In addition to the garden, LVEJO worked to remediate another site located at 2800 S. Sacramento. The former Celotex superfund site was used for making, storing and selling asphalt roofing products. The culmination of a decade-long effort by LVEJO to clean the site and turn it into an accessible and usable green space, the City of Chicago acquired the property with intent to develop it with the Chicago Park District.

LVEJO and community members got a head start on planning and design. Over the past three years, the organization held several community meetings to obtain community input on the park’s layout and features. In collaboration with The School of the Art Institute, the community documented their plan, which will be the catalyst when residents begin working with the Chicago Park District landscape architect.

Both park and the community garden will play a pivotal role in LVEJO’s campaign to fight obesity and climate change. By being able to grow and sell their own organic produce, residents will have access to affordable and healthy food choices. In addition to that, the Little Village residents will reduce transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions resulting from shipping produce, which average 1,300 miles. The park will provide active recreation, be a local model for rainwater recycling and stormwater harvesting and provide wildlife habitats.

Images courtesy WRD Environmental