CHICAGO, IL - Those looking to nurture Mother Earth by leaving a smaller carbon blueprint might consider a new green-ready condo, town house or home in the Chicago area. Demand for environmentally friendly buildings is on the rise, real estate experts say, due in part to the popular 2006 documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth," which featured environmentalist and former U.S. Vice President Al Gore. The film profiled the need for energy conservation to slow down the effects of global warming.
To meet the consumer demand, many Chicago area builders have stepped up to the plate and have begun constructing energy-efficient developments and have applied for the coveted certification by the United States Green Building Council as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) projects.
These new residential developments offer residents energy-saving amenities ranging from green roofs and low E (emissivity) insulating glass windows to Energy Star appliances and water-saving faucets and toilets.
Local builders also are using materials such as recycled glass tiles and bamboo flooring and panels to save on natural resources. Bamboo is a plant that grows to maturity in a few years, compared to the slow growth of trees. Special paints, carpeting, caulking and other materials are selected because of the low emissions of toxic fumes. "Green developments are the wave of the future," said developer Rick Turner, president of Dynaprop Development Corp. "What we're doing now will be commonplace in 10 to 15 years."
Turner is building one of the city's most innovative green residential projects, the 12-story eco18 condominium project in the South Loop. The 93-unit condominium, at 1818 S. Wabash, will be "the first residential tower to employ the largest geothermal energy system in the city," said Turner, who has applied for LEED certification. Construction is scheduled to begin this summer.
The development's geothermal energy system will consist of piping dug 450 feet into the ground, which will provide energy-efficient heating and cooling year-round. Turner says condo residents will pay about 40 percent less in energy costs.
Source: Sun Times