OP Home Awarded LEED Platinum Certification for Green Homebuilding

by Jason LaFleur, Alliance for Environmental Sustainability OAK PARK, IL – The home at 1135 North Grove has earned LEED Platinum certification by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) for achievement in green homebuilding and design. It is the first residence in Oak Park to receive LEED certification.

LEED for Homes is a green home certification system for assuring homes are designed and built to be energy- and resource-efficient and healthy for occupants. LEED certified homes complete a technically rigorous process that includes a home energy (HERS) rating and onsite inspections to verify that the home is built to be energy and water efficient, environmentally sound, and a healthier place to live.  1135 North Grove reduces energy use 66% below the typical new home built to code. 

The four bedroom project features low-e argon windows, high efficiency lighting fixtures, detailed attention to preventing air leakage, and blown-in fiberglass insulation.  Other energy efficiency upgrades include a geothermal heating system which also provides most hot water heat, and a rarely-used backup electric water heater. An ultra-efficient electric induction cooktop is used in the kitchen. The roof angle was optimized for solar panels which produce electricity to power the home, without visually disturbing the home’s facade.

“As a LEED Platinum home, 1135 North Grove is at the national forefront of green homes, and serves as a model of healthy and efficient living for the entire community,” said Jason La Fleur, Regional Director for the Alliance for Environmental Sustainability, who also served as the third-party verifier for the project. “Their example can help us all to live better by reducing our environmental footprint, cutting the costs of our utility bills, and coming home to a healthier place to live.” La Fleur is hosting a free webinar on May 14 for those interested in learning more about LEED homes.

Located in one of the “Top 10 Neighborhoods in the Nation” according to the American Planning Association, the home features a very walk-friendly location in the heart of a neighborhood with many historic homes designed by notable architects.

Homeowner Tim Carey says, “Fitting a new construction home into a historic neighborhood creates a challenge for designers and builders. This project demonstrates that you can build a beautiful, traditional looking home, with a green design and features, yet keep with the character of an established community such as Oak Park.”

As a result of incorporating energy saving products and technologies, 1135 North Grove has achieved an impressively low 34 Home Energy Rating System (HERS) score. Additionally, the combination of electric using-and-producing systems at 1135 North Grove has resulted in affordable energy bills for the homeowners who have been living in the home for a full year. The house has had modestly low electricity bills, and as an all-electric home no natural gas is used, so there are no natural gas bills.

A heat recovery ventilator provides fresh air distributed throughout the home to keep it healthy for the homeowners and recovering some of the energy used to condition the air. Low VOC (volatile organic compounds) paint and locally sourced materials have been used throughout the house.  Proving building green can be done affordably, 1135 North Grove was built with a total construction cost of $145 per square foot after renewable energy incentives, below the Chicagoland average construction cost for custom new homes.

1135 North Grove is one of 40 homes in Chicagoland that have been certified using LEED (view the LEED Project Profile).  The single-family home was built by Wicklow Development Group, known for their expertise in green building and historic preservation. Through their commitment to green homebuilding, Wicklow Development Group is helping to keep homeownership affordable. Green homes have substantially lower utility bills[1] and may qualify for advantageous financing, lower insurance rates and government incentives.

Learn more and see construction photos at the project web site for 1135 North Grove, or view the LEED Project Profile for the home.

About AES

The Alliance for Environmental Sustainability (AES) is a non-profit organization with a mission of providing sustainable building education to the general public and building industry. AES provides education and technical assistance with residential green building projects in communities across the Midwest. For more information, please visit www.alliancees.org

About LEED® for Homes

LEED® for Homes is a third-party certification system for building and designing high-performance green homes that are energy-and-resource-efficient and healthy for its occupants.  Developed and administered by USGBC, LEED for Homes awards points to projects in eight categories of environmental performance: Innovation & Design Process, Location & Linkages, Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Indoor Environmental Quality, Energy & Atmosphere, Materials & Resources, and Awareness & Education. To date, more than 2,200 homes have been LEED-certified, and over 14,600 are registered and under development.  For more information and guidance on greening your home, visit www.thegreenhomeguide.org.

About Wicklow Development Group

The Wicklow Development Group LLC are landmark building and restoration professionals, and have been a Chicagoland builder for over 25 years with a passion for historic preservation and green building expertise.   For more information, contact Paul Wicklow 708-351-9683, or visit www.wicklowdevelopmentgroup.com/greenhome.

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[1] U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ENERGY STAR (2007). Residential Home Improvement: An Overview of Energy Use and Energy Efficient Opportunities (August 2007).

The Sugar Beet -- a New Kind of Local Food Co-op Coming to Oak Park

by the Sugar Beet Cooperative Team

The Sugar Beet Cooperative is a new kind of local food co-op that is coming to Northeast Oak Park. Cheryl Munoz and Jenny Jocks Stelzer are two Oak Parkers who, with the support and hard work of their friends, neighbors, and (as of right now) 338 Facebook supporters, are spearheading the effort to make local, sustainable food more accessible to the Oak Park and Austin communities year-round.

Combining Sale of Locally Grown Food with Educational Programming

The Sugar Beet is in its early development phase, and its founders are currently hard at work establishing their vision and aligning it with the hopes and expectations of the community. They have prioritized providing access to local sustainable food by connecting farmers to eaters AND developing a community organization that works to provide a space for education, discussion, and action on topics like gardening, cooking, preserving, and eating together. The Sugar Beet will be a new kind of food cooperative in that it will be both a corner store that sells food and products from local farmers and producers AND a community center with educational programming and outreach activities for the underserved regional food shed in the Oak Park and Austin communities.

Stunned by Extent of Community Support

Munoz and Jocks Stelzer have been stunned by the show of support they have received from the community and the extent to which neighbors and supporters are eager to help make The Sugar Beet happen. They are reading and responding to ideas and discussions through social media, meeting with those who have reached out as specific resources, such as Seven Generations Ahead, the Dill Pickle Food Co-op, and Oak Park-River Forest Patch.com, and building working groups so that all who are interested in volunteering with the effort to build the co-op can get involved.

Opportunities to Meet Members of the Sugar Beet Team and Learn More

The Sugar Beet will be at the Local Food Forum follow-up meeting on May 16^th from 7 – 8:30 p.m. At the Oak Park Conservatory; everyone who wants to get involved, or to learn about the co-op are invited.  The Sugar Beet will be at the Go Green Days at the OP Farmers' Market on May 19^th  and 26^th  from 9 am and 12 noon (The Market, of course, is 7 – 1)  and at Oak Park’s A Day In Our Village on June 3 (Scoville Park). They will also be talking with the community about memberships in the co-op during the Oak Park Farmers’ Market season and conducting a big fundraising event in July at Fitzgerald’s.  Details are forthcoming.  Drop by to meet the team, buy a beautiful and sustainable The Sugar Beet t-shirt, and to join in the efforts to bring a new kind of local, sustainable food cooperative to the community!

The Sugar Beet’s Mission:

The Sugar Beet Cooperative will provide high quality, locally sourced food produced in ecologically sounds ways. Not only will we offer good food at fair value to member-owners and the community, The Sugar Beet Co-op will also serve as a neighborhood gathering place for sharing and learning, which in turn will support our regional food shed.

The vision of The Sugar Beet Co-op is to nurture our diverse community through the practice of cooperative economics and through educational programming honoring a more sustainable relationship between the foods we eat and the world we live in.

The Sugar Beet’s Values:

Economy: Create a vibrant not-for-profit business whose success stimulates cooperative activity. Localism: Ensure our community has access to a marketplace with healthy, safe, and local goods that have a positive environmental and social impact. Wellness: Provide our community with direct access to solutions that contribute to heath and wellness. Education: Create opportunities for our diverse community to learn about cooperative economics and the interconnectivity between healthful foods, environmental stewardship, and social responsibility. Community: Nurture ecologically regenerative and socially just community development efforts that reach beyond our community and our generation. Model Workplace: Develop a model workplace that demonstrates a professional culture of mutual support and open communication, based on the balance of personal and organizational needs.

Viewpoints: The Case for a Carbon Tax

Editor’s note (Doug Burke):  Many respected climate scientists agree that a long-term carbon dioxide (CO2) level of more than 350 parts per million may cause climate change severe enough to destabilize established climate patterns and threaten our ecosystem.  The current CO2 level is over 390 and rising.   Climate change is anticipated to result in severe weather events, inundation of coastal areas, drought, failure of agriculture and water supply, and ultimately  cause  forced migrations, political upheavals and conflict over resources.

The Case for a Carbon Tax[1]  by Kenneth O'Hare

The carbon dioxide already in the Earth’s atmosphere and being added daily is destabilizing established climate patterns and threatening the ecosystems on which all living beings depend. Very large and rapid reductions in carbon emissions are essential.  The most immediate, effective, and transparent policy to reverse carbon dioxide build-up is a a tax on the carbon content of fossil fuels.

Companies would compete to become more energy efficient

Such a measure would levy a simple per-ton tax on the carbon content of fossil fuels at the wellhead, mine head, or dock. Inevitably, fossil fuel companies would add the amount of the tax to the cost of the fuel they sell, raising the price of these fuels, along with the downstream prices of a broad array of products and services that currently depend on fossil fuels. To cope with higher prices, companies that use fossil fuels would compete to become more energy efficient and change their energy sources to renewable. A large and growing number of economists, policy-makers and leaders across the political spectrum regard stiff taxes on carbon as essential for combating the climate crisis. Among the supporters of various forms of a carbon tax are Jim Hansen of NASA, Lester Brown of Earth Policy Institute, Carl Pope of the Sierra Club, economists Joe Stiglitz, Robert Reich, Jeff Sachs, and Alan Blinder, along with a majority of economists polled by the Wall Street Journal.[2] Surprisingly, supporters also include prominent conservatives such as columnist Charles Krauthammer,  Peter Van Doren of the Cato Institute, Irwin Stelzer of the Hudson Institute, and Harvard economist Gregory Mankiw.  A report from the conservative American Enterprise Institute has called for a high and rising CO2 price.

But, the U.S. has not been a leader in converting this body of informed opinion into tax law. Internationally, we are behind the curve. To date, carbon taxes have been enacted in Australia (2011), Finland (1990), and Sweden (1991). Boulder, Colorado implemented the United States’ first tax on carbon emissions from electricity, and Quebec province began collecting a carbon tax on “hydrocarbons” (petroleum, natural gas and coal), both in 2007. British Columbia inaugurated a revenue-neutral carbon tax in 2008. In Great Britain a Conservative Party leader has called for a “carbon levy” based on the carbon content of fuels.  This February South Africa announced plans for a carbon tax to take effect in 2013.   In the U.S., the “Save Our Climate Act of 2011” (H.R. 3242), which would establish a carbon tax and rebate most of the funds to families, has been introduced in the House.[3]

Why A Carbon Tax?

Currently, the prices of gasoline, electricity and fuels in general include none of the costs associated with climate change. This means industry dumps the most dangerous pollutant there is – CO2 – into our common atmosphere for free.  This omission suppresses incentives to develop and deploy carbon-reducing measures such as energy efficiency (high-mileage cars and high-efficiency heaters and air conditioners), renewable energy (wind turbines, solar panels), low-carbon fuels (biofuels from high-cellulose plants), and conservation-based behavior such as bicycling, recycling and overall mindfulness toward energy consumption. Conversely, taxing fuels according to their carbon content will infuse these incentives at every link in the chain of decision and action — from individuals’ choices and uses of vehicles, appliances, and housing, to businesses’ choices of new product design, capital investment and facilities location, and governments’ choices in regulatory policy, land use and taxation.  Fossil fuels seem cheaper than renewables like wind and solar only because we ignore the massive costs of pollution in extraction and burning, and the threat of climate change.  A carbon tax would begin to price fossil fuels closer to their real cost.

A carbon tax won’t stop global climate change by itself.  But without a carbon tax, even the most aggressive regulatory regime such as high mileage standards for cars, and subsidies such as tax credits for efficiency and renewable, will fall woefully short of the necessary reductions in carbon emissions.

Not a Tax Increase

A carbon tax should be “revenue-neutral.” Revenue-neutral means that little if any of the tax revenues raised by taxing carbon emissions would be retained by government. The vast majority of the revenues would be returned to the public, with, perhaps, a very small amount utilized to mitigate the otherwise negative impacts of carbon taxes on low-income energy users. Two primary return approaches are being discussed. One would return the revenues directly through regularly scheduled, equal “rebates” of the tax to all U.S. residents. (Just such a rebate program has operated in Alaska for three decades, providing residents with annual dividends from the state’s North Slope oil revenues.)

In the other method, carbon tax revenue would trigger reduction in existing taxes such as the federal payroll tax. This “tax-shift” approach, while less direct than the rebate method, would also ensure that the carbon tax is revenue-neutral and could offer other benefits. For example, reducing payroll taxes could stimulate employment.  Revenue-neutrality not only protects the poor, it’s also politically savvy since it blunts the “No New Taxes” demand that has held sway in American politics for over a generation.

Softening The Impact

A carbon tax, like any flat tax, is regressive — by itself. However, the regressivity of a carbon tax can be minimized, and perhaps eliminated altogether, by keeping the tax revenue-neutral in a way that protects the less affluent. The operative fact is that wealthier households use more energy. They generally drive and fly more, have more and bigger houses, and buy more stuff that requires energy to manufacture and use. As a result, most of the costs of a carbon tax will be passed on to families of above-average means, along with corporations and government, if they choose to continue using fossil fuel-intensive goods and services.

That is why the two “return” approaches discussed above — carbon rebates or tax-shifting — can turn the carbon tax into a progressive tax. Because income and energy consumption are strongly correlated, most poor households will get more back in carbon tax rebates than they will pay in the increased prices that will result from the carbon tax.

Cap-and-Trade Problems

A tax on carbon emissions isn’t the only way to “put a price on carbon” and thereby provide incentives to reduce use of high-carbon fuels. Some prominent politicians, corporations and environmental groups have supported a carbon cap-and-trade system. The U.S. sulfur dioxide cap-and-trade system instituted in the early 1990s deserves some of the credit for efficiently reducing acid rain emissions from power plants.  But, a carbon tax is superior to a carbon cap-and-trade system, for five fundamental reasons:

1. Carbon taxes will lend predictability to energy prices, whereas cap-and-trade systems exacerbate the price volatility that historically has discouraged investments in less carbon-intensive electricity.
2. Carbon taxes can be implemented much sooner than complex cap-and-trade systems. Because of the urgency of the climate crisis, we do not have the luxury of waiting while the myriad details of a complex  cap-and-trade system are resolved through lengthy negotiations.
3. Carbon taxes are transparent and easily understandable, making them more likely to elicit the necessary public support than an opaque and difficult to understand cap-and-trade system.
4. Carbon taxes can be implemented with far less opportunity for manipulation by special interests, while a cap-and-trade system’s complexity opens it to exploitation by special interests and perverse incentives that can undermine public confidence and undercut its effectiveness.
5. Carbon tax revenues can be rebated to the public through rebates or tax-shifting, while the costs of cap-and-trade systems are likely to become a hidden tax as dollars flow to market participants, lawyers and consultants.

Public Support for a Carbon Tax

The Carbon Tax Center recently reported that most Americans now support a carbon tax.[4]

Sixty-five percent of Americans now support a modest revenue-neutral carbon tax to reduce pollution and create jobs, according to a survey of one thousand American adults conducted jointly last month by the Yale Project on Climate Communication and the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication. This is the first poll we have seen showing that a majority of Americans support a carbon tax.

Majority support for a carbon tax spanned the political spectrum in the Yale-George Mason poll, with 51% of self-identified Republicans, 69% of independents and 77% of Democrats supporting a carbon tax with revenue returned as lower taxes.

Opportunities for Action

Citizens Climate Lobby, a public interest group with over 50 chapters in the U.S. and Canada, advocates for carbon tax and rebate legislation. Individuals who may be interested in adding their voice in support can visit www.citizensclimatelobby.org for information on how to get involved. For a synopsis of federal tax and rebate legislation proposed by the Citizens Climate Lobby, go to http://www.citizensclimatelobby.org/files/images/FeeAndDividendLegProposal081811.pdf.

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[1] This article is adapted from articles entitled “What is a Carbon Tax?” and "Why a Carbon Tax?” posted by the Carbon Tax Center, and authorized for reprinting and adaptation under Creative Commons license. This article may be reprinted and adapted under the terms of the same Creative Commons license.

[2] See  http://www.carbontax.org/who-supports/scientists-and-economists/ for the results of a poll conducted by the The Wall Street Journal in 2007.

[3] See www.gov.track.us/congress/bills/112/hr3242 for the text of the bill.

^[4] Handley, James. Majority in U.S. Support Revenue-Neutral Carbon Tax. www.carbontaxcenter.org December 2, 2011.

Award-Winning Films that will Inspire

By Amy Boruta The Film Festival Planning Team is excited about the many films that will be shown during the One Earth Film Fest 2012 on April 27-29^th.  The screenings will take place throughout Oak Park/ River Forest at venues like Lake Street Theater and Dominican University.  The event will be kicked off with a celebratory event, the Green Carpet Gala, on Friday, April 27^th at the Oak Park Conservatory that will focus on community and conversation. Purchase your tickets for the Green Carpet Gala and register for the film fest here.

Approximately 300 films were considered for the fest and the planning team screened 70. The planning team thoughtfully selected a combination of long and short films that we feel embody the purpose of the event and there will be something for all members of the community.  These special films promote awareness, inspire change, and drive action.  We would like to move Oak Park / River Forest and the Chicago-area forward as sustainable communities and green community leaders and we feel that these films will inspire this change. You can find a complete list of films, showing times, and venues hereAn Amazing Line-Up

The films highlight the importance of climate change, sustainability, and the power of human involvement. Waste Land is one of the films that will be shown during the event and is the winner of the Sundance Film Festival Best World Cinema Audience Award. Waste Land follows renowned artist Vik Muniz as he journeys from his home base in Brooklyn to his native Brazil and the world's largest garbage dump, Jardim Gramacho, located on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. There he photographs an eclectic band of “catadores”, self-designated pickers of recyclable materials. Muniz’s initial objective was to “paint” the catadores with garbage. However, his collaboration with these inspiring characters as they recreate photographic images of themselves out of garbage reveals both the dignity and despair of the catadores as they begin to re-imagine their lives.  “The trailer alone had me choke up, and the reviews and awards are amazing,” said Sally Stovall, planning team member.  You can view the trailer here.  Wasteland will be shown on Saturday, April 28^th at 9:30am at the Lake Street Theatre.

Another featured Sundance film is A Fierce Green Fire that will be shown at Dominican University on Saturday, April 28^th at 5:00pm.  The film is the first to take on environmentalism as a whole, to bring together all the parts and eras, from conservation to climate change. It explores how the issues built into an international cause, the largest movement the world has ever seen and perhaps the most crucial in terms of what’s at stake. You can view the trailer here.

 Still Time To Get Involved

Oak Park/River Forest’s Green Community Connections is still looking for volunteers to get involved in the fest. We are interested in identifying volunteers for roles throughout Friday, April 27^th- Sunday, April 29^th that can assist with set-up, registration, facilitators for movie discussions, and clean up.  We are looking for volunteers to serve in a variety of roles on Saturday between 8:30am - 8:00pm and Sunday between 8:30am - 7:30pm.

If you are interested in participating as a volunteer during the event click here.  It's more fun to volunteer with a friend, so please share this volunteer opportunity with others that may be interested in participating.

Oak Park Earth Fest 2012 - April 21st, 10am-2pm

The Village’s third annual celebration of green living — Earth Fest — scheduled for  10 a.m. – 2 p.m., Sat., April 21, in the LEED® Gold-certified Public Works Center, 201 South Blvd. This year's event will focus on the local, sustainable food movement. Chef demos, kid-friendly activities, a community mural, farmers, and eco-focused vendors will help to make this the biggest and best Earth Fest to date.  Download Earth Fest flyer here to post and share with others.

Recycle on-site at Earth Fest

New for the 2012 festival, visitors to the Earth Fest event will be able to bring items to recycle. Thanks to several local businesses and organizations, tables will be set-up for recycling intake of items that aren't typically recyclable in everyday bins.Recycling opportunities include:

• Blue jeans - Oak Leyden
• Glasses & hearing aids - Lion's Club
• Prescription medication - Cook County
• CFL lightbulbs, cell phones and rechargeable batteries - Oak Park Public Works
• Corks - Green Home Experts

Sponsors now being sought Sponsors are now being sought for the Village's third annual celebration of green living – Earth Fest – scheduled for Sat., April 21, in the LEED® Gold-certified Public Works Center, 201 South Blvd. Sponsors not only receive special recognition in event promotional materials, they also help move the community forward toward the important goal of living sustainably. Earth Fest celebrates green living, encouraging and educating people on how to live more sustainably to support a healthier planet. Sponsors earn the opportunity to not only educate but also to engage and empower people to make healthier choices for themselves, their families and the planet. Sponsorships range from $125 to $1,000. Click here to download a sponsorship application form. For more information on Earth Fest call 708.660.1443 or e-mail maria@ghexperts.com.

Energy Impact Illinois - Low Interest Loans for Energy Efficiency Improvements

Energy Impact Illinois is an alliance between government groups, utilities and consumer advocates with the mission of helping residents and businesses reduce energy use and costs.   See web site to:

• Learn. Read through the resources to understand more about energy efficiency and how you can start saving today.
• Find energy saving actions and financial resources. Use MyHomeEQ to get personalized recommendations based on your home and its energy usage. Or, visit the “Find Energy-Saving Actions” tool to learn about more actions you can take and find incentives, rebates or low interest loans that are available to you.
• Upgrade a broken or outdated appliance. If something breaks down or you need to replace an appliance, learn about options for selecting a more efficient model and making other improvements in your home at the same time to maximize savings.
• Find trusted energy professionals. If you have a project that requires a professional, our “Find an Energy Professional” page can direct you to experienced contractors in your area.

Chicken-Keeping Class at Green Home Experts - March 27th

Tuesday, 3/27 - 6:15 to 7:45pm -- at Green Home Experts, 811 South Blvd., Oak Park, IL 60302   (708) 660-1443   gogreen@ghexperts.com Thinking about raising chickens?  Want to know what all this urban homesteading stuff is about?  This class is designed for curious folks who are considering getting chickens, as well as for those who already have their own birds and who want to learn more.  Come learn how to raise chicks, care for adult birds, and keep your neighbors happy!  Presented by the MidWest’s only chicken consultant, Jennifer Murtoff. $20 per person.  Please call or come to Green Home Experts to reserve your space.  Reservations needed by March 24th, 2012.  Green Home Experts will be offering discounted chicken care packages for all attendees.  See attached flyer and share with others.

Contractors Promoting Green Building Practices

Editors' Note:  Finding a contractor that is knowledgeable about materials, practices and products that will help to make your home more eco-friendly is often a challenge.  This article features two contractors that have made promoting green building practices part of their business purpose.

• Keith Wright is a contractor specializing in remodeling vintage homes who has brought together a Chicagoland Green Building Team. 

• Mark Rzucildo is a full service contractor with Green Power Works in Chicago.

If you have worked with a contractor that you would like to recommend, please let us know and we will add the information to Green Community Connections.   Please click on the link below for the full article by Cassandra West, and check out the resources on each of these contractors' websites for lots more information on green building options.

by Cassandra West

The Chicagoland Green Building Team

Keith Wright, a contractor specializing in remodeling vintage homes, is determined to make suburban living a little greener—one step at a time. The Chicagoland Green Building Team is an association of contractors, designers and consultants brought together by his firm, Wright Services Corp., to promote green building practices in the construction/remodeling industry.

Together, the team can provide homeowners a comprehensive selection of green building products and practices or, as Wright puts it, “options that fit their budgets.” Wright works with clients to determine their needs, then they tailor solutions to fit their wallets.

For owners of older vintage homes who want to their abodes to be greener, it’s typically the simple things that make the most sense, Wright says. Heating and cooling that is high efficiency is a good start. “People want to do the right thing and be environmentally friendly, but it always comes down to their budgets.”

Some of the more high-end improvements such as geothermal may be out of a lot of people’s reach in this climate, Wright says. “People will really want to make a statement to do geothermal in this climate because of the cost associated with it. But there’s tremendous improvements in heating and cooling, and you can get something that’s very efficient.”

Green is the Future and There's No Turning Back

Wright, 49, has seen lots of innovations during his years in the building trades. Sustainable material solutions like bamboo or cork flooring, and low-VOC (volatile organic compounds) paints that don’t have as many toxic substances are drawing the attention of more homeowners, he says. And, continuing innovations will help bring down the cost, making green construction more attraction to more homeowners.

“If you look at innovations in solar going back 10 years and how far that’s come, it’s unbelievable,” he says. “As you move forward more, the costs will be reduced. When you reach a level that’s more affordable for your average homeowner, that’s when you’ll start seeing a lot more of these things.”

For now, though, homeowners can take one step at a time. Green is the future and there’s no turning back, Wright believes. “The reason that I’ve educated myself along these lines is to keep pace with where this industry is going. Eventually this is the way the building industry will go. I don’t think there’s any alternative.”

Mark Rzucildo of Green Power Works, Inc.

On the Northwest side of Chicago, Mark Rzucildo, of Green Power Works Inc., a full-service general contractor, helps his clients live greener inside their homes. His company installs solar and wind turbine systems and LED lighting. While most of his business is commercial, he’s hoping more residential customers will come around to green power solutions.

Switching to LED lights is a simple solution, Rzucildo says. LED lights use less than half the amount of energy as standard lighting, he points out. The amount of energy cost saving for solar depends on how much energy a household uses and how many people live in the home. Solar panels are installed mostly on the roof and can be made to operate on or off the electrical grid.

Wind turbines can be installed several winds. In Chicago, wind turbines can be installed 15 feet above the roof line. Different suburbs have different regulations, says Rzucildo, who is looking into what the regulations are for the western suburbs. Oak Park currently has no specific regulations governing wind turbines.

Rzucildo wants to see more government support for green power. When that happens, he expects more consumers will come around to it, too.

Energy Impact Illinois Creates Marketplace for Energy Efficiency

Energy Impact Illinois (EI2) is a collaborative effort among its partners with the mission of helping residents, businesses and non-profits reduce energy use. The alliance provides simplified access to information, financial mechanisms and workforce resources that empower people to make their own energy impact.

The Vision of Energy Impact Illinois (EI2) is to create a marketplace for energy efficiency.

Energy Impact Illinois strives to connect the dots between financial institutions, home and building owners, contractors and energy efficiency.  The elements of the vision include . . .

• Financial institutions provide access to capital at affordable rates so residents and businesses can make efficiency improvements
• Home and building owners make improvements to their property to reduce energy costs, freeing up money for other living and operating expenses
• Contractors respond to a greater demand for energy upgrades by hiring additional workers and purchasing new equipment and materials, creating new jobs and contributing to increased economic development
• Market transformation leads to energy efficiency measures and practices becoming “business as usual”, which helps our environment and leads to greater energy security.

The Energy Impact Illinois (EI2) program is led by the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP), in partnership with the City of Chicago, City of Rockford, ComEd, the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, Illinois Science & Technology Coalition, Nicor Gas, North Shore Gas, Peoples Gas and The Northern Illinois Energy Project.

To learn more about the Energy Impact Illinois Program, visit www.energyimpactillinois.org/about/.  To speak with the partners in the Oak Park project, contact Jon Levey at jlevey@greenchoicebank.com; Bonnie Mark at bmarx@greenenergyimprovement.com; or Erica Cuneen at erica@beyondpropertiesrealty.com.

Check back for additional details coming soon.

Green Architecture & the Future of Ecological Design

Interview with Tom Bassett-Dilley by Cassandra West.  Oak Park architect Tom Bassett-Dilley embraces a vision that includes historic preservation and a modern interpretation of Frank Lloyd Wright’s love of art, space and light. Tom is president of Tom Bassett-Dilley Architect, Ltd., at 301 Harrison St. Tom designed Oak Park’s first passive home, which uses modern materials and rigorous design standards to create a thermal envelope so tight that no gas furnace is needed. Q. What are the benefits of living in a house like the one you designed on South Clinton?

A. The benefits of having a house like that are comfort, reduced energy costs and really good indoor air quality. When you build an airtight house, you get really good air quality because you’re always exhausting the stale air and bringing in fresh air.

Q. How do you work with owners of older homes, like those you see here in Oak Park, to make them more energy efficient?

A. I recommend clients go to an energy auditor to get an objective data driven assessment of the energy diet of the house. Then you can figure out where to go first. Almost always the list for old houses includes air seal, insulate and then start upgrading efficiencies of mechanical equipment and then possibly replacing windows and doors. How far that gets taken is partly the question of the construction and the condition of the house is. If you want to get to the highest level of energy performance, of course, you have to deal with your heating energy first because that’s the biggest slice of the energy diet.

Q. You consider yourself a green architect. What does that mean?

A. To me it’s a broad look at ecology. It involves a lot of things—energy efficiency, environmental health, both inside a building and outside. How the decisions about placing and designing the building affect the landscape and the interior environment; interior air quality and the health inside; non-toxic materials; local materials; recycled materials. All of these many decisions that go into a building add up to more than a carbon footprint. ... To me, it’s a tension between striving for the perfect scenario and pushing the industry to try to get those materials and construction processes available that we can really stand behind ecologically and at the same time actually getting things built that are affordable and sensible.

Q. Since you started thinking green, have you seen a shift in the general population’s thinking toward green living?

A. Oh, yes. When I got interested architecture in 1979 and there were two books I got from the library that turned me on to no end. One was a book by Frank Lloyd Wright and it was full of gorgeous buildings that were just in love with art and space and light. ...The other book was Ed Mazria’s passive solar energy book. He’s still a leader in the environmental movement. The idea that a building should be integrated with its site and ecologically mindful was part of my mindset from the beginning. It really wasn’t until after Al Gore’s “Inconvenient Truth” [movie] that people really started asking for it more. We were always trying to bring these things into our projects. The passive house movement that I’m a part of really started in the 1970s here in Illinois in Champaign-Urbana. It was the oil crisis that kicked us into high gear. That focus moved to Europe and it became the passive house movement.

Q. What do you think it will take to move us to the next level?

A. More good, built examples. I’m very proud of that house on Clinton because when you look at new construction in an old neighborhood you often have to be sensitive to the character of the neighborhood. Having a building that has a lot of character that’s drawn from its place is really the idea.  Also, I think successful examples of design that also perform extremely well and also aren’t more expensive than a conventional house when you look at the cost of ownership.

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You can find out more about Tom Bassett-Dilley Architect, Ltd at www.drawingonplace.com.

Cassandra West is the founding editor of www.seedingchicago.com, a blog of news and views on how urban agriculture is taking root and transforming lives in the Chicago area.  Cassandra is a resident of Oak Park and can be contacted at cwest@seedingchicago.com.