Last week, on Monday, I saw the following sentence in an article from the Tribune that was sent to my inbox by the Alliance to Save Energy's daily "News You Can Use" clip service.
"And on Thursday, Chicago will announce 14 winners in the biennial GreenWorks award contest that recognizes companies with green buildings, practices and products."
Sounded like something good to write about, so I went to the GreenWorks website to find more information. All it said was "An awards ceremony for the finalists will be held in November."
Not willing to leave it at that, I called up the City Department of the Environment to see if I could find out from them about the ceremony. They told me that it was an "invite only" event, but when they asked what organization I was with and I told them, they said (to paraphrase) "Oh, we like you guys, would you like an invitation?"
On the evening of Thursday, November 16, Mayor Daley's biennial GreenWorks Awards were presented at the ABN-AMRO Plaza, itself a green building--with a green roof, energy efficient design and construction, sensor-operated lighting, low VOC paint, individual at-desk HVAC controls, it is currently a candidate for LEED Gold certification.
The awards program was first held in 2004, to recognize the achievements in green building going on in Chicago. Since that time, the field has grown so much that the awards program was expanded to include not only buildings, but also practices and products that are complements to the City's green vision. Also included were "market transformation" awards for each of the three categories, for applicants whose projects had the most potential to influence their industry towards being more green.
There were 56 applicants for awards this year. Judging was done by a panel of 27 judges from various building and environmental fields. The judges that were the most notable to me included George Nassos, director of my Masters' program, Peter Nicholson, who runs Foresight Design and Chicago Green Drinks, and Dan Smith of Valcucine, my team's sponsor in this year's Explorago scavenger hunt.
Without further ado, the award winners:
Green Buildings
- Harry Ellis Deveraux - for their Wentworth Commons project, a LEED candidate affordable, high density housing project with rooftop photovoltaics, low VOC interior paints, and stormwater management.
- Farr Associates - for their Bethel New Life project, a mixed-use, transit-oriented community center with a green roof, that achieved 53% energy savings over the base case.
- John Ronan Architects - for their Gary Comer Youth Center, which has a 24" deep green roof suitable for vegetable production and uses extensive daylighting.
Green Buildings-Market Transformation
- The John Buck Company - for their 111 South Wacker building, which has achieved a Gold rating for LEED-CI, incorporates a green roof and energy efficiency projects, and can set an example for downtown, high-rise development
- Wolbrink Architects - for their 2020 Green Dream 3-flat, the first ENERGY STAR-rated 3-flat in Chicago, with low VOC interior finishes and potential to influence the low-density residential building market
Green Practices
- The Chicago Department of Fleet Management - for the implementation of a no-idle policy for their 8000 vehicles, the replacement of 1000 conventional vehicles with hybrid and alternate fuel vehicles, and strict monitoring of vehicle emissions and controls.
- The O'Hare Modernization Program - for requiring sustainable design measures in all new building contracts, constructing four green roofs, implementing a stormwater management system, and creating an internal "green airplane" building rating system
- The Shedd Aquarium - which has an internal "Green Team", that has implemented museum-wide recycling and composting programs as well as educating staff and visitors, and for providing CSA purchasing programs for employees
Green Practices-Market Transformation
- Consolidated Printing - which has been recycling 100% of paper, waste ink, and aluminum printing plates since 1996 and 100% of all waste solvents since 1998, and for switching their production to the use of soy-based inks and other non-toxic materials (as well as being a union shop -and proud of it) to protect the health and safety of their employees
Green Products
- PortionPac - a Green Seal-certified company that creates highly-concentrated, environmental- and worker-safe cleaning products that reduce packaging and the shipping of high-volume liquids
- The Resource Center - a non-profit that runs the City Farm, the Blackstone Bicycle Works, and the Creative Re-Use Warehouse
- WomanCraft - a job-training program that produces handmade papers and greeting cards from waste products including paper and flower petals, with all products completely recycleable and compostable
Green Products-Market Transformation
- Consolidated Printing - their second award, highlighting their eco-friendly product as well as their practices
- Aerotecture - producer of high-tech wind turbines such as are in place at the Daley Center and the Mercy Housing Lakefront Near North SRO building on North Avenue
The awards were sponsored by EarthTech, Bain Consulting, The Shaw Group Inc., and WRD Environmental. The environmental impact of the awards was reduced by making the entire process electronic and paper-free, using durable dining ware and re-usable linens for the scrumptious organic/local appetizers and wines, and printing the program on recycled paper. The award plaques were made out of wood harvested from naturally-felled trees from Chicago Parks by Bruce Horigan from Horigan Urban Forest Products.
