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Environment
Permit Program Speeds Greening of Chicago
(midwest.construction.com,
October 2006 issue)
By Paula
Widholm
Chicago is doing its part to make sustainable
buildings more commonplace.
Efforts began in city government's backyard
when the city mandated that all new municipal buildings must
be LEED certified. Next, city officials branched out with
both green requirements and incentives for private developments.
Thirdly, a Green Permit Program
initiated in April 2005 attracts many developers as it speeds
up the permitting process.
"The three as a package is the
main driver to get large projects to be green," said
Erik Olsen, green projects administrator in the Department
of Construction and Permits with the city of Chicago.
These initiatives, combined with a cultural
shift toward environmental awareness and energy cost savings,
have resulted in more green building locally.
Green Permit Program
Rubloff Hall, a $9 million, 37,000-sq.-ft.
residence hall that opened this fall at Saint Xavier University
on the Southwest Side, participated in the city's Green Permit
Program and received its permit in six weeks. Normally, a
permit would take 10 to 12 weeks.
"The university felt it was time
to be a leader in green technologies," said Paul Mathews,
assistant vice president for facilities management at SXU.
Seed money to design and commission the residence hall to
green building specifications came in the form of a $90,400
grant from the Chicago-based Illinois Clean Energy Community
Foundation, an independent foundation that provides financial
support for energy-efficient projects.
Overall, the city issues approximately
50,000 permits a year. Less than 1,000 are for large projects
over 25 units or 80,000 sq. ft. For these large projects,
the traditional permit time averages 90 days, whereas through
the green permit process it's about 42 days.
Financial perks also came through the
Green Permit Program because all consultant fees were waived.
"We were moved to the front of the line and dealt directly
with Erik Olsen on design of the building and its approval,"
Mathews said.
Under the Green Permit Program, a green
building adviser reviews design plans under an aggressive
schedule long before submitting a permit application.
"There's one point of contact with
intimate knowledge about the project to help speed up the
permit process," Olsen said. "We handle fewer projects
and keep them moving."
The 83-bed Rubloff Hall at SXU, designed
by Chicago-based Solomon Cordwell Buenz and built by Hickory
Hills-based Henry Bros. Co., is also meant to influence students
on the importance of environmental issues.
"We're not just building a building,
but we're building an educational platform," Mathews
said. "All buildings in the future will also be green
using the LEED certification."
Overall, Rubloff Hall cost about $291,400
more than conventional construction, but Mathews said he expects
the building to last twice as long.
And, energy costs are expected to be
$60,000 per year vs. the $90,000 of a conventional building.
More than 10 percent of the roof is
a green roof, which is covered with clay pots holding small
plants. The remainder of the roof is reflective white. The
building also features a displacement ventilation system,
the first of its kind in the state.
"In common spaces, it analyzes
the amount of carbon dioxide output and compensates the air
quality," Mathews said.
Rubloff is the first residence hall
in the Chicago area and one of two in Illinois to be LEED
certified.
Projects going through the Green Permit
Program receive benefits based on their level of green. Tier
I commercial projects are designed to be LEED certified. Tier
II projects must obtain LEED silver rating. At this level,
consultant review fees, which range from $5,000 to $50,000,
are waived.
Tier III projects must earn LEED gold. The goal for a Tier
III project is to issue a permit in three weeks for a small
project such as a 12-unit condo building.
By the end of 2005, 19 green permits
were issued; so far this year, 32 such permits have been issued.
Olsen estimated that about 50 would be issued in 2006, which
exceeds the city's goal of 40.
"The goal is to cut the time in
half," Olsen said. "The incentive is saving time.
And, if they qualify for second level, it's also the money
with the consultant fee being waived."
Private developers are most interested
in the timesaving because they can pay less interest on their
construction loans by completing the building faster and getting
it sold, Olsen noted.
Municipal Buildings Go Green
Since all new city and Cook County buildings
must register for LEED certification under the U.S. Green
Building Council in Washington, D.C., the design and construction
community at large is getting a lot of experience on LEED
projects. As this experience grows, it will flow into private
development as well, Olsen said.
The Chicago chapter of the U.S. Green
Building Council also offers numerous events to educate designers
and contractors on LEED issues and green building.
In 2005, 22 new city buildings, including
fire stations, schools and libraries, registered for LEED
certification. For 2006, Chicago has committed to building
all of its new buildings at a minimum LEED silver level with
a target of gold.
In 2005, Chicago completed energy-efficiency
retrofits at all city libraries, adding to the more than 15
million sq. ft. of citywide energy-efficiency retrofits instituted
by Mayor Richard Daley. In 2006, the city will complete lighting
retrofits at all 105 of its fire stations saving $250,000
in annual electricity costs and reducing emissions of carbon
dioxide by 3,515 tons.
In 2005, Chicago purchased solar panels
for hot water heating capable of generating a total of 1.27
megawatts, the equivalent of heating 17 Olympic-sized swimming
pools. In 2006, the city will provide grants for the installation
of these solar panels at qualified affordable housing developments,
social service organizations, coin laundries and health clubs.
The effort will nearly double Chicago's
installed solar power capacity.
Greening Private Projects
In 2005, the Chicago City Council passed
a construction and demolition waste recycling ordinance, requiring
all general contractors and demolition contractors in the
city to recycle 25 percent of their waste in 2006 and 50 percent
in 2007. Construction and demolition waste makes up approximately
40 percent of the city's waste stream.
More than 60 green roofs were installed
or planned in 2005 through city initiatives, bringing the
total of green roofs in the city to more than 200 and creating
more than 3 million sq. ft. of roofs that keep the city cool
and reduce the amount of stormwater directed to the city's
sewer system.
Even with the initiatives spurring green
building, the Second City is not necessarily first in environmentally
friendly building, said Peter Nicholson, executive director
of the Chicago-based sustainable design consultancy Foresight
Design Initiative.
"We're sort of lagging," Nicholson
added. "Chicago doesn't have a progressively green high-rise
yet."
In New York, several sustainable skyscrapers
are undergoing construction, including the Bank of America
Tower, Hearst Magazine Tower and the Conde Nast Building.
The Conde Nast Building features solar
panels built into the curtain wall.
"There's nothing here on that scale,"
Nicholson said. "There are some buildings that have green
features but haven't taken it to the extent others have."
One reason may be that headquarters
clients choose sustainability to make a statement, and Chicago
developers build more speculative office towers with an eye
toward flipping them for profit, Nicholson said.
"It can cost 1 to 5 percent more
to include progressively green features, and developers are
not getting the payback quickly," Nicholson said.
Culture has to do with it, too. Nicholson
added that in Portland a green condo building sold out faster
than a similar traditionally built one because people there
preferred to live in a green building.
"If people are willing to pay a
premium for progressively green features, developers will
be there," Nicholson said. "The city is trying to
use what means it has to encourage greener development, but
it's only a few drops in the bucket."
Still, others see the benefits of Chicago's
initiatives.
The Green Permit Program helps developers
see the benefits of sustainable building, said Lois Vitt Sale,
chair of the Chicago chapter of the USGBC and principal of
Downers Grove-based Phoenix Architects.
"It's a very positive move on the
city's part," she said. "It's motivating people
who wouldn't necessarily build green. For those who wonder
'Should I go green or should I just skip it?' the Green Permit
Program helps tip it in the favor of going green."
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