Suggest an article
Send us your articles! Please email any articles or topics that you think we should feature to Editor@Sustainable-Chicago.com.
Scorecards, Standards and Certifications: Rethinking Chicago’s Infrastructure
December 16, 2010 by Matt Baker · Leave a Comment
By Jon Sedey
Chicago has more than eighty-eight LEED-certified buildings, thirty-two of which are city-owned, making Chicago top in the nation in LEED-certified municipal buildings. In addition to that, Chicago is among the top in the nation in green roofs with 600 planned, under-construction or completed, totaling approximately eight million square feet. By all appearances, city officials seem to understand the benefits of environmentally-sound buildings and will continue to promote green building.
Read More…
Hubble Middle School: Designing for the Future
December 16, 2010 by Matt Baker · Leave a Comment
By Matt Baker
When School District 200 approached Legat Architects seeking a firm to design a new middle school for the Wheaton/Warrenville area, they had specific requests and parameters. What school officials didn’t expect was to have the tables turned on them. “If you were to design your own workspace or classroom, what would you design it to be?” That’s the question Legat’s Patrick Brosnan, who served as principal on the project, put to the faculty and staff. “In fifty years, how would you be using the classroom? Because it will still be there in fifty years.”
Read More…
Greenbuild 2010: Redefining Leadership
December 15, 2010 by Matt Baker · Leave a Comment
By Matt Baker
It’s no secret that the current recession has hit few industries as hard as the building sector. As architects, designers, manufacturers, contractors and other related trades look for a way forward, the event held mid-November at McCormick Place should prove to be a beacon. For the first time since 2007, the USGBC hosted their annual Greenbuild conference here in Chicago. With hundreds of exhibitors, dozens of educational seminars and over 25,000 attendees from more than a hundred countries, it could be deemed a success in any economy, let alone this one.
Read More…
Geothermal Energy: Operating 24 Hours a Day
November 10, 2010 by Matt Baker · Leave a Comment
Drugstore giant Walgreens announced yesterday the opening of the nation’s first pharmacy chain location to make use of geothermal energy for facility heating and cooling. The store in suburban Oak Park is expected to reduce its energy usage by about 46 percent as a result of the geothermal system.
Read More…
Local Legislator Among Greenbuild’s 2010 Leadership Award Winners
November 9, 2010 by Matt Baker · Leave a Comment
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has named the recipients of its 2010 Leadership Awards, including one local legislator, recognizing organizations and individuals who signify vision, leadership and commitment to the evolution of green building design and construction. The awards, which will be presented during the Closing Plenary on Friday, Nov. 19, during USGBC’s 2010 Greenbuild International Conference & Expo held next week in Chicago. The 2010 awards recognize leadership achievement in the private, public and non-governmental organization sectors.
Read More…
Chicago’s Aqua Makes Cut of Elite International Skyscrapers
October 14, 2010 by Matt Baker · Leave a Comment
The internationally-acclaimed mixed-use Aqua tower (previously) that anchors Chicago’s rising Lakeshore East neighborhood has been selected one of five finalists for an International Highrise Award. It is the only U.S. representative. The Aqua tower, designed by Studio Gang Architects for developer Magellan Development Group was, selected by an international jury of architects, engineers and property specialists by the Deutsches Architekturmuseum in Frankfurt, Germany. The residential highrise was also recently honored as Skyscraper of the Year by Emporis, the international building database.
Read More…
Comprehensive Plan for Chicago Region Put Into Motion
October 13, 2010 by Matt Baker · Leave a Comment
Last year, Daniel Burnham was as celebrated here in Chicago as at anytime during his life in recognition of the Plan of Chicago’s centennial. The 1909 Plan supplied Chicago with Navy Pier, Grant Park and Northerly Island, among other public amenities. Today, leaders from across metropolitan Chicago’s seven counties voted unanimously to adopt a new plan, GO TO 2040, designed to guide development and investment decisions through mid-century and beyond.
Read More…
Solar Panels Return to the White House
October 5, 2010 by Matt Baker · Leave a Comment
“A generation from now, this solar heater can either be a curiosity, a museum piece, an example of a road not taken or it can be just a small part of one of the greatest and most exciting adventures ever undertaken by the American people.” So said President Jimmy Carter at the dedication ceremony for the 32 panels he had installed atop the White House in the summer of 1979. His comments proved prescient, as the panels ended up in the Carter Library, the Smithsonian and other places around the country that weren’t the roof of the presidential residence.
Read More…
USGBC Names Award in Mayor Daley’s Honor
September 29, 2010 by Dieterich Herndobler · Leave a Comment
The United States Green Building Council (USGBC) yesterday announced a new award titled the “Mayor Richard M. Daley Legacy Award for Global Leadership in Creating Sustainable Cities.” The inaugural award will be presented to its namesake at the USGBC Greenbuild conference to be held November 17-19, 2010 at McCormick Place in Chicago.
Read More…
DePaul’s Proposed Architecture School Bridges Streets, Minds
September 17, 2010 by Matt Baker · Leave a Comment
A bold new design to adjoin the DePaul University campus at State and Van Buren with a student housing tower across the street makes use of two very visible trends in green building: the use of air rights and vegetated roofing.
Read More…
