GreenBean

Green Armitage

Location
3018 W. Armitage, Chicago Map

Developer
The Sanders Company

Architect
Swiss Design Group

Green Armitage is a new five-story residential building, with a first-floor commercial space and eight 1200-1300 sf residential units above. The project has been under the eye of Chicago green building fans for a while, but appears to be finally off the ground (nearly literally). This is the rare developer-driven, market rate residential project that gets green right - starting with an emphasis on energy efficiency, then considering additional features. The building is designed to beat the latest energy code (2006 IECC) requirements by 80%, and is nearly certain to qualify for at least a LEED Silver certification (but is targeting Platinum!).

Blackhawk/Halsted

Location
1460 N. Halsted, Chicago Map

Developer
Structured Development

Architect
Valerio Dewalt Train

Blackhawk/Halsted is a new 150,00 sf four story speculative retail and office buiding (two floors of each) with an adjacent seven level parking garage. The project is in the already-crazy North/Halsted/Clbyourn corridor, just north of the new British School and across the street from the soon-to-be-razed (or deconstructed?) New City YMCA. The project is seeking basic LEED certification, and although the green features are fairly basic, it's nice to see another entrant in a fairly empty field - Southgate Market may be the only other green speculative (mass-market) retail project in Chicago.

Evelyn P. Tyner Interpretive Center

Location
2400 Compass Road, Glenview Map

Owner
Glenview Park District

Architect
Wight & Company

The Evelyn Pease Tyner Interpretive Center is the public gateway to the 32-acre Air Station Prairie in Glenview.  The 3000 square-foot Tyner Center educates visitors about the history and ecology of the local Illinois prairie ecosystem, while also serving as a showcase for the cutting edge of green building technology and techniques.  The building was designed by Wight & Company and built by Pepper Construction. Lois Vitt Sale was the architect in charge of LEED issues and sustainable design.  In May 2007, it became the first new building in the Chicago area to achieve LEED Platinum certification.

Residential Deconstruction

Location
3905 N. Janssen, Chicago Map

There's no architect on this project, as it's an un-project: Chicago's first residential deconstruction, currently underway on a 2-story home at 3905 N. Janssen. Deconstruction is the process of carefully dismantling a building in order to salvage components for reuse, as opposed to demolition, where buildings are smashed with wrecking balls and bulldozed, leaving components in bits and pieces. Although salvage of valuable architectural elements such as some plumbing fixtures, light fixtures, built-ins, and sometimes woodwork occurs in Chicago, never does it occur on the scale seen here, down to every last stud. Kudos to Urban Habitat Chicago (UHC) and The Reuse People for this accomplishment, and let's hope it becomes a growing trend. Our photo is provided by UHC.

Monsignor Andrew J. McGowan Science Building

Location
1110 W. Belden, Chicago Map

Owner
DePaul University

Architect
Antunovich Associates

The Andrew J. McGowan Science Building is a new 5-story, 130,000 sf academic building to be located immediately south of the existing William G. McGowan science building which opened at DePaul's Lincoln Park campus in 1998. McGowan South will house the DePaul Chemistry Department and accomodate the expanding Environmental Science and Biology programs with several sloped-floor classrooms, computers labs, faculty offices, and teaching and research laboratories. The project is seeking LEED Silver certification, partly due to popular demand from the faculty.