Visiting Windy City? Check into Chicago’s Many Green Hotels

About fifteen years ago, Richard Daley – then the mayor of Chicago and the city’s undisputed Democratic boss – announced a commitment to revitalize Chicago and make it into one of the greenest places in America, if not the world. Thanks to his efforts, as well as that of other communities and leaders, Chicago is now one of today’s most environment-friendly cities. It has over 300 miles of bikeways, close to 7 million square feet of green roofs, two world-class conservatories, a guaranteed green restaurant co-op, and a climate action plan where every Chicago homeowner, business, and community member can participate in making the city a greener place to be.

The city has also done well in offering visitors a chance to experience the benefits of an environment-friendly lifestyle. The Chicago Green Hotels Initiative, in particular, reflects the city’s commitment to reduce the carbon footprint of one of its biggest and most important industries. Indeed, Chicago has taken the lead: it now has more Green Seal certified hotels than any other US city. (The closest are Portland and Washington, with two each.)

What is Green Seal? It is an independent non-profit that uses science-based standards to power the marketplace and provide environmental certification to businesses, products, and services that consistently apply environmentally responsible and sustainable practices.

So if you’re ever flying into Chicago, or driving from its nearby neighborhoods, you might want to check into a green hotel. The city’s got plenty of them.

Holiday Inn Chicago Mart Plaza

350 West Mart Center Drive

312.836.5000

Last year, this Chicago hotel was awarded LEED Gold Certification by the US Green Building Council, making it the first LEED-certified hotel in the city and the largest in North America. And for good reason, too: the Chicago Mart has taken extensive ecological measures to create a high-performance and energy-efficient green building, all while providing luxury accommodations to business travellers, vacationers, leisure guests, and attendees to exciting social events.

Hotel Allegro

171 W. Randolph St.

312.236.0123

The charming Hotel Allegro features 483 guestrooms and suites, as well as a luxurious mix of amenities and services. What makes it stand out even more is that it has been renovated for a greener future. Hotel Allegro is noted for its pet-friendliness; environment-friendly products; extensive recycling program; organic, shade-grown, or fair trade coffee served in its lobby; energy-efficient air-conditioning and lighting system; and, for its hotel materials, soy-based ink printing on 100 percent recycled paper. For its efforts, Hotel Allegro has been given the Silver Certification by Green Seal – along with the next four hotels.

Hotel Burnham

1 W. Washington St.

312.782.1111

Hotel Burnham is not only a dazzling Chicago boutique hotel; it is also an architectural landmark and one of the world’s best places to stay. It combines old-world elegance with a contemporary – and green – sensibility. The eco-friendly efforts of this Green Seal Silver Certified hotel include: environment-friendly bath amenities, in-room recycling bins, eco-certified cleaning supplies, recycled paper printing, paperless check-in and check-out service, energy-efficient lighting, organic snacks and beverages, linen and towel reuse program, and eco-friendly dry-cleaning for its guests and employees. Oh, and there’s this Hybrid Happiness Package, a program that provides discounts to guests who arrive in a hybrid vehicle.

Hotel Monaco

225 N. Wabash Ave.

312.960.8500

A four-star boutique hotel, the Hotel Monaco is one of the most environmentally responsible hotels in Chicago. It is Green Seal Silver Certified, thanks to its efforts in waste minimization, reuse, and recycling; energy efficiency, conservation, and management; fresh water resources management; and environmentally and socially sensitive purchasing policy, which covers everything from papers to toilet tissue.

Intercontinental Chicago

525 N. Michigan Ave.

312.321.8766

Chances are, you’re familiar with the Intercontinental brand, for it has hotels in various locations around the world. But this one in Chicago is special: it is Green Seal Silver Certified. The Intercontinental Chicago has a committee that oversees all its earth-conscious practices, which include: a guestroom energy management system; the use of CFLs in guestrooms, back-of-house areas, corridors, and other locations; the use of water-saving toilets; a towel and linen reuse program; a lighting, heating, and cooling control system; an extensive waste management program; the use of low- or no-VOC paints; and the purchase of renewable energy credits to offset 50 percent of the hotel’s electricity consumption.

The Talbott Hotel

20 E. Delaware Pl.

312.944.4970

Guests of this charming boutique Chicago hotel can enjoy their stay even more knowing that they will have minimal impact on the environment. That’s because the Talbott Hotel continues to adhere to the guidelines of its Green Seal Silver Certification. This means that it continues to implement green, eco-savvy measures like: an extensive recycling program, energy-efficient lighting, water-conserving fixtures, lighting and heating control systems, “eco-mode” guest rooms, the purchase of carbon offsets, and an investment in wind energy. All these are part of an approach that the hotel calls “Sustainability without Compromise”.

As hotels in Chicago continue to respond to the demand for green operations, more and more properties are being rewarded by Green Seal. The Essex Inn, Four Seasons Chicago, the Hilton Chicago, The Ritz-Carlton Chicago, the Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Tower, Fairmont Chicago, The Silversmith Hotel and Suites, the Sofitel Chicago Water Tower, and the Westin on Michigan Avenue are all Green Seal Bronze Certified hotels. More are in the process of earning similar certifications. Guests, residents, and businesses alike have all benefited enormously from these green efforts, thereby making it safe to say that there is no greener city to visit and stay in than Chicago.

Build Green – Build with Concrete

Did you know that concrete is the most used man-made material in the world? There’s more than one cubic meter of it for every person alive right now, and that’s enough concrete to run a $35 billion industry in the US, with over two million workers.

One who doesn’t know much about concrete – and how it is used today – might wonder how big an impact the construction material has on the environment. Surely, that’s going to drain the earth’s natural resources? Surely, concrete is responsible for stumbling block upon stumbling block to our path to sustainability?

Not quite. In fact, concrete has grown to become one of the most sustainable and eco-friendly construction materials available today.

Composed of cement, water, fine and coarse aggregates, and other admixtures, concrete is gaining popularity these days for those who wish to build with the safest, most durable, and most sustainable materials. That’s because the material has excellent natural properties that allow for superior fire resistance, a long service life, and great durability. New ways of recycling concrete (and not just shipping it to landfills) are also spreading, in conjunction with the environmental awareness of green contractors, engineers, home builders, home owners, DIYers, manufacturers, the government, and environmental groups and organizations.

When comparing the cradle-t0-cradle impact of building with concrete as opposed to building with other materials, concrete simply stands out. A reinforced concrete structure has thermal mass that moderates daily temperature swings and reduces energy consumption by as much as 35 percent. Simply put: it’s the smartest, greenest choice for those who are committed to sustainable development.

Here’s a rundown of some of the green properties and benefits of concrete:

• Durability: Concrete has a long service life, and it can provide the durable foundations that many architects, engineers, and developers are looking for.

• Recycling: Concrete can be made using recycled or reclaimed industrial materials, thereby easing the strain on landfills. Of course, concrete recycling also contributes toward reducing carbon emissions – because even at the end of a concrete building or pavement’s life, the concrete can still be recycled.

• Local production: Concrete is a material that can be produced locally, thanks to the fact that its main ingredients – crushed stone, gravel, sand, and water – are easily available in many locations. The ingredients mentioned above are also responsible for about 90 percent of the volume of the concrete mixture, which means that concrete is readily mixed, and that there’s no need to make new materials just to produce it. Moreover, since concrete is made-to-order, making it and building with it result in less waste, less energy consumption, and less need for transportation and handling.

• Energy efficiency and conservation: One of the biggest advantages of building a home with concrete is that the material has a thermal mass that can reduce temperature swings in the house, thereby conserving energy that would otherwise have been spent on heating, cooling, and infrastructure costs.

• Green landscaping: With qualities that help prevent water runoff and the heat island effect, concrete – particularly impervious concrete – is a smart choice for projects like green landscaping and green rooftops.

• Water management: Pervious concrete has the natural properties needed to percolate water into soil and recharge aquifers. Concrete also provides a great way of preventing runoff (usually polluted) from getting into and overwhelming streams and lakes and other bodies of water.

• High albedo: This basically means that concrete can reflect more light and absorb less heat. This makes concrete ideal for paving and roofing – not only because it encourages more natural light to illuminate a house structure, but also because it can minimize the heat island effect and cut down (by as much as 18 percent) on the need for air conditioning.

• Better indoor air quality: Concrete promotes better indoor air quality by cutting down on VOC-related carbon emissions; the material can also combat the sick building syndrome and, as mentioned above, minimize levels of heat absorption.

• Safety: Concrete can minimize health hazards and risks, and provides excellent resistance against fire, wind, vibration, seismic movement and impact, and even sound transmission.

As the material continues to surge in popularity among builders, architects, and engineers, concrete is also used in combination with other construction materials to achieve green certifications, like that provided by the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Rating System.

Of course, concrete is also pretty versatile when it comes to providing unique aesthetic possibilities. With a range of colors and finishes, concrete can be used to create structures that not only provide superior energy and environmental performance, but also look aesthetically pleasing.

The Green Benefits of Skylights

Skylights – those windows on the roof that add a touch of luxury to your home – can do more than just enhance the visual appeal of a property. Sure, they can display for you the full glory of the summer sky, the stars and the moon, the multi-colored sunset, but don’t be mistaken: skylights are important energy savers, too.

That’s because windows – of which, really, skylights are only one of many kinds – play an important role in determining the efficiency performance of our homes. They affect our heating and cooling bills, the insulation levels inside the house, and the quality of the indoor air that we breathe. They have an impact on our lighting systems and designs. These days, skylights are also being incorporated with new technologies to provide even more green benefits and further reduce homeowners’ energy consumption.

Here are only some of the ways skylights can improve the efficiency performance of your home:

• Skylights provide natural warmth and brightness to your house and reduce your use of electricity and artificial lights. It’s been said that these types of windows can provide up to five times more light into your home than traditional windows of the same dimension.

• Skylights with solar heat control glazing – those that are designed to provide passive heating from the sun – can cut down on your need for heating and cooling systems.

• Skylights add a unique aesthetic appeal to your home interiors and create a feeling of openness and space without compromising your privacy.

• Skylights improve ventilation and promote fresher, healthier air indoors.

Before you proceed with skylight installation in your home, however, it’s recommended that you first consult green, innovative contractors like Greenwerks and let the professionals help you find out which designs, selections, and positions fit your home best. That’s because skylights can also pose a number of risks – such as the potential to cause drafts, leaks, and uncontrolled indoor temperatures.

When choosing your skylight, look out for models that have been labeled by the federal Energy Star program. In maximizing your energy efficiency, it’s also important to make considerations about the design of your home as well as the climate in your area. Of course, proper professional installation is not just an option – it’s a necessity.

There are three basic kinds of skylights:

• A ventilating skylight – usually installed in kitchens and bathrooms – can be opened by a hand crank, and can provide better ventilation by letting heat out and delivering passive cooling to a room.

• A fixed skylight, meanwhile, does not open, but provides plenty of natural light and reduces the amount of electricity required for illumination.

• Last but not least is the tubular skylight, usually 10 to 14 inches in diameter, designed to help reduce heat loss while also controlling heat gain.

As far as design goes, there are skylights with plastic glazing and single panes, but these don’t perform as well as skylights with heat absorption tints, insulating glazing (two-paned skylights), and low-e coatings – all of which serve to minimize your dependence on electrical heating and cooling systems. Size also matters: never should your skylight be more than 5 percent of the floor area in rooms with many other windows, or more than 15 percent of the floor area of rooms with little or no windows.

Apart from design, size, and materials, the position of the skylight should also be taken into consideration. Here’s what you should know: if you’re installing a skylight on a roof that faces north, you’ll get constant illumination and fairly cool temperatures. On roofs facing east, meanwhile, you’ll get maximum light and solar heat – especially in mornings. Face west, and you’ll get plenty of sunlight and heat in the afternoons. Finally, if you install a skylight on a roof that faces south, you’re allowing yourself the optimum passive solar heat gain, perfect for winter conditions.

Remember to choose carefully the location of your skylight installation, so that you’ll be able to maximize its green benefits and energy efficiency capabilities.

Willis Tower: 5-Year Green Renovation

Often when we hear “local” we think of small or neighborhood-scale efforts, but there are some large-scale changes going on in downtown Chicago that are pretty incredible. Announced last spring, the Willis [Sears] Tower commenced a 5-year green renovation plan (“Willis” Tower should actually be noted because it is the Willis Group Holdings, Ltd that commenced the green renovation).

Credit to WillisTower.com

Solar panels, wind turbines, and rooftop gardens will be added in addition to updates for every elevator and escalator, reducing their current energy usage by 40%.  Each window will be replaced with thermal prevention windows for better insulation and a new lighting system will sense natural lighting and change artificial lights accordingly.

This $350 million renovation will reduced the structure’s energy consumption by 80% and water usage by 40%, i.e. 24 million gallons of water and 150,000 barrels of oil annually. These changes are estimated to create 3,600 jobs.

It would be nice if there was an update page for the progress but until then we’ll just continue to look at pretty pictures.

Credit to Pondstone Communications Blog

LEED and Passive Houses around Chicago

It may seem far-fetched for us renters to consider life that doesn’t include some serious winter bills from People’s Gas but there quite a bit of good architecture that is based around LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), an internationally recognized green building certificate system.

The LEED for Homes Illinois website, run by the Alliance for Environmental Sustainability, outlines the many benefits, financially and environmentally, of living in a LEED-certified home. These benefits seemed slightly vague in the explanatory video, dedicated to describing how LEED homes maintain energy efficiency, water efficiency, high indoor air-quality, etc. through:

• Integrated design
• Durability strategies, avoid common costly repairs
• Location + linkages [public transit instead of car etc.] / urban setting
• Keeping away from parkland/wetland/ endangered species
• Sustainable site promotes native landscaping, reduce impact of home
• Water efficiency, high efficiency toilets, washer machines, etc. / use of rain water etc.
• Energy and atmosphere, use of renewable energy , more comfortable lower utility bills, reduce green house gas output
• Materials and resources low or zero VOC paint less chemicals in air, recycling as much as possible
• Proper venting
• Awareness and education, home owner’s manual or maintenance, operation of home

All of these things sound well and good but what it was the project page and links that best conveyed the message of LEED home benefits. Take the Yannell Residence for example, with 88% expected energy savings and 88% construction waste diverted from landfill.

Credit to LEED for Homes Illinois

The “butterfly” roof not only hides the 48 solar thermal and solar PV panels but also collects rainwater and it is a net-zero house, which means the home produces at least as much energy as it uses over a year. Much of the house was constructed with recyclables (ex. pressed wheat and recycled plastic fencing) and fully utilizes its southern access through its design. At 4,200 square feet, this is a one of the larger posted on the site.

This blog covers a more urban –based LEED house located in Logan Square.

Credit to GreenLogan.blogspot.com

Passive Houses seem have to have taken the backburner in popularity but just by hopping around local home development progress blogs it seems as though Passive Houses are relevant and possibly growing in popularity.  This blog outlines the building of a furnace-free house in Oak Park.

Credit to Four Thick Walls blog

This is the embodiment of the passive house, originally practiced in Germany but quite popular all over Europe now. The house will survive the Midwest winters through intensely tight thermal envelope created by modern materials and rigorous design standards. Warmth is generated and maintained from appliances, lights, electrical devices, body heat, and sunlight. Architect Tom Bassett-Dilley provides a Passive house prototype on his personal blog, while also helping build the above discussed passive house and other energy efficient homes that can be found on his site.

The differences between LEED and Passive Houses are explained in detail here by Monique Lee Hawthorne, LEED accredited professional.  Basically where LEED houses are certified and then gain points for any extra green features, Passive Houses are or just aren’t Passive. Passive houses “green” features aren’t as obvious or flashy as LEED houses but ultimately As Hawthorne articulates, Passive houses are climate and location specific and primarily focused on energy efficiency which can be well-demonstrated with a $5 electricity bill for January…

“LEED buildings are found to use 25-30 percent less energy than non-LEED buildings. Passive House buildings can slash the heating energy consumption of buildings by up to 90 percent, and overall energy consumption by 60 to 70 percent.

LEED does not require any minimum air changes per hour, even though building leakage contributes greatly to energy loss. Passive House requires less than or equal to 0.6 ACH at 50 Pascal pressure, which is 10 times tighter than Energy Star.

All in all, the Passive House standard takes a big bite from a building’s impact on the environment.
LEED and Passive House do not preclude each other-a building can obtain LEED certification and also meet the Passive House standard. Some have said LEED is ahead simply because it has been around longer.”