GreenBean

Yannell Residence

Location
4895 N. Ravenswoood, Chicago Map

Owner
Michael Yannell

Architect
Farr Associates

The Yannell Residence is a new two-story plus basement, 2,675 sf home seeking LEED for Homes Platinum certification. We haven't seen many LEED for Homes projects in Chicago (the Mauceri Residence recently earned a Gold certification), mostly because the program has been in pilot phase for years, but the USGBC has finally sent it for final member approval. The home also seeks to be one of Chicago's first zero net energy homes - a challenging goal that can only be demonstrated by studying a year's worth of utility data after the home is completed.

RTKL Studio

Location
200 S. Michigan, Chicago Map

Owner
RTKL Associates

Architect
RTKL Associates

RTKL, an international architecture, engineering, and planning firm, has relocated their Chicago office to the Borg-Warner building, one the few modern-style high-rises in the historic Michigan Avenue streetwall. The 25,000 sf architectural studio space is seeking LEED-CI Silver certification with the usual interiors emphasis on high-efficiency lighting and green materials.

The Balanced Kitchen

Location
6263 N. McCormick, Chicago Map

Owner
G-Free-V LLC

Architect
Alper & Alper Architects

The Balanced Kitchen is the retail location of G-Free-V, a new wholesale and retail foods company specializing in vegan & gluten free products. This first outlet is a renovation of an existing restaurant to include a restaurant, bakery, and retail store and is seeking LEED for Commercial Interiors certification. As a small tenant improvement, many of the green ideas come through in the materials, which represent much of the construction work.

ICG Offices

Location
210 S. Clark, Chicago Map

Owner
Interior Construction Group, Inc.

Architect
Gary Lee Partners

ICG, a general contractor specializing in commercial interiors, is relocating their offices to the 13th floor of 210 S. Clark. This relatively small project (8,000 sf) is seeking LEED-CI Gold certification and presents some unusual opportunities because it is actually in the same building as the company's current offices. It's a great demonstration that you don't have to be a huge company (like Exelon) or always go all-out (like Exelon) in order to think green on something as seemingly routine as a commercial office. Our construction photo shows an often-overlooked indoor air quality construction process detail - protection of open ends of ductwork being installed.

Officer Donald Marquez Charter School

Location
2916 W. 47th St., Chicago Map

Owner
United Neighborhood Organization

Architect
Austin AECOM

Officer Donald Marquez Charter School is one of two green school renovations underway by the United Neighborhood Organiozation (UNO). This first project is housed in a former Misericordia home for disabled children in Chicago's Brighton Park neighborhood. The two & four story, 58,150 sf building is opening this fall as a charter elementary school for 520 students, operated by the UNO Charter School Network. The project is seeking LEED Silver certification.

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.

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.

The Morse Theater

Location
1328 W. Morse, Chicago Map

Owner
1328 Morse LLC

Architect
Greene & Proppe Design

The Morse Theater is a renovation of a nearly-abandoned 1912 Nickelodeon theater building into a 299-seat music venue and a 99-seat restaurant (The Century Public House). The renovation includes all-new interior structure and mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems, including addition of a mezzanine bringing the total building area to 18,000 sf. The building has been through a variety of uses and hard times, so it's encouraging to see a local owner take interest in this type of rehab and make it green as well. Renovation projects are notoriously complex and expensive, and this project is no exception - it even includes a difficult expansion of the existing basement.

Bolingbrook High School

Location
365 Raider Way, Bolingbrook Map

Owner
Valley View Public School District 365U

Architect
Wight & Company

When it opened in 2004, the new Bolingbrook High School became the first LEED certified high school in Illinois, and only the third in the entire country.  The 568,000 square foot facility, designed to accommodate 3,600 students, was completed on an expedited schedule though a unique design-build process, with Wight & Company serving as the architect, civil engineer, and general contractor.  This facility is just one example of the large and growing movement to build and certify green schools.  In many cases, the buildings themselves become part of the curriculum, reflecting the importance of education in the green building movement.

353 N. Clark

Location
353 N. Clark Map

Developer
Mesirow Financial

Architect
Lohan Anderson (Design)
Epstein (Architect of Record)

353 N. Clark is a new 45-story, 1.1 million sf speculative office tower anchored by Mesirow Financial and law firm Jenner & Block. The project is LEED for Core and Shell precertified for Silver certification. As I've indicated before, I expect that most major office towers downtown will now earn LEED certification, as evidenced by the growing list of peers to this project.

Ford Engineering Design Center

Location
2133 Sheridan Rd, Evanston Map

Owner
Northwestern University

Architect
Davis Brody Bond

The Ford Motor Company Engineering Design Center is the first building on Northwestern University’s Evanston campus built specifically to target certification in environmental sustainability.  The 84,000 square-foot educational and laboratory structure was designed by architects Davis Brody Bond of New York and built by general contractor Turner Construction.  A team from the Rocky Mountain Institute, one of the preeminent leaders in resource efficiency and sustainable design, served as a special consultant to the University throughout the project.

Flashpoint Academy

Location
28 N. Clark Map

Owner
Flashpoint Academy

Architect
Valerio Dewalt Train Associates

Flashpoint Academy is a new media arts and sciences school occupying 58,000 sf on two floors (plus a small storefront street-level space) in the Burnham Center (aka 111 W. Washington). The two-year school will offer four areas of study: cinema, recording arts, gaming and animation - their new space includes classrooms, computer labs, recording facilities, a directing stage, a screening room, an information commons, a motion-capture studio, and student lounges to support these studies. The project is seeking LEED-CI Silver certification, and similar to the Spertus Institute, demonstrates that a sleek, contemporary design can still be green - you don't have to live and work in a hobbit hole to be green.

Christopher House

Location
3255 W. Altgeld Map

Owner
Christopher House

Architect
Wheeler Kearns Architects

Christopher House is redeveloping the former Logan Square library (which was replaced by a new green library) into a 14,000 sf child daycare and family resource center. This new site for the 100-year old social service organization will include preschool, daycare, and after school classrooms, a motor skills playroom, plus offices, conference rooms, and a computer lab supporting Christopher House's adult education, computer literacy and family counseling programs. The project is seeking a LEED Certified rating, partially driven by a board made up of many members in the building industry.

900 S. Clark

Location
900 S. Clark Map

Owner
AMLI Residential

Architect
Solomon Cordwell Buenz

900 S. Clark is a 24-story, 440 unit apartment tower currently under construction just north of the Target along Roosevelt Road. This is the first high-rise apartment building (instead of condos) to seek LEED certification in Chicago. It is also AMLI's first project of any sort within the Chicago city limits, although they have many walk-up rental properties in the suburbs.

Center for Neighborhood Technology

Location
2125 W. North Map

Owner
Center for Neighborhood Technology

Architect
Jonathan Boyer
(Now of Farr Associates)

The Center for Neighborhood Technology's (CNT) 15,000 sf renovation of their Wicker Park home in a former weaving factory was the second LEED Platinum certified building in Chicago (CCGT was the first). Having received its certification in 2005 and being completed more than a year prior to that, it is long overdue for coverage on GreenBean. CNT's mission is very much to have others learn from their space - for more information please visit their website or stop by the building for a tour.

Access Living

Location
115 W. Chicago Map

Owner
Access Living

Architect
LCM Architects

Access Living has moved into their new 4-story, 50,000 sf headquarters housing open plan and private offices and meeting rooms. As a non-profit providing support and services to the disabled, it's to be expected that their headquarters is a model of universal design. That the project is seeking LEED Silver certification is icing on the cake, and leads to some interesting parallels between these rapidly growing movements.

Update: Exelon Headquarters

Chicago now has three LEED Platinum projects, which we believe is the most of any municipality in the nation. Added to the long-complete LEED-NC Platinum Chicago Center for Green Technology and Center for Neighborhood Technology (which we'll cover soon) is the new LEED-CI Platinum Exelon Headquarters, which we previously covered here. Exelon has a press release on the certification here. Congratulations to the entire project team!

Hannah's Bretzel Zwei

Location
233 N. Michigan Map

Owner
Hannah's Bretzel

Architect
UrbanLab
Photo courtesy Michelle Litvin

Hannah's Bretzel, the outrageously popular organic lunch spot, has opened a second location in the Illinois Center (don't confuse this with the State of IL building, aka Thompson Center). This time, the 1,750 sf space is organic as well, seeking LEED for Commercial Interiors certification. As a frequent customer of the original location (down the street from my office), I'll admit an undue bias on this one.

Lexington Park

Location
2138 S. Indiana Map

Owner
Chieftain Construction

Architect
VOA

Lexington Park is a South Loop high-rise condo development consisting of a 35-story, 297-unit tower and a seven-story, 36-unit "loft" building, connected by a podium including storefront retail space and a multilevel parking garage. It is Ireland-based developer Chieftain's first project in the U.S., so it is of particular note that they have chosen to seek a LEED Certified rating. The developer's response when presented with the idea of certification was, "You mean it's not required?" Clearly we need to catch up with our friends across the pond.

Wieboldt Hall

Location
339 E. Chicago Map

Owner
Northwestern University

Architect
SmithGroup

Wieboldt Hall is one of three original buildings built in 1926 on Northwestern's downtown campus. This high-rise building is undergoing a 31,000 sf renovation to modernize mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems and provide new classroom spaces and a new entry lobby to the School of Continuing Studies. A major MEP upgrade in a building of this vintage is inherently challenging, but in addition, Northwestern has elected to seek LEED for Commercial Interiors certification for the 4th and 5th floors, which will be complete in the first phase of renovation.

Exelon Headquarters

Location
10 S. Dearborn Map

Owner
Exelon Corporation

Architect
Interior Space International

Exelon has moved into its new 10-floor, 220,000 sf headquarters space at Chase Tower. The project is targeting a LEED for Commercial Interiors Platinum certification, and is certain to acheive Gold status if Platinum isn't awarded. This is likely the largest green commercial interior space completed in Chicago and establishes Exelon's leadership among large corporations in Chicago - hopefully we'll see others following suit.

AIA Chicago Offices

Location
35 E. Wacker Map

Owner
AIA Chicago

Design Architects
Daimian Hines
Andrew M. Senderak
Natalie Banaszak

Architect of Record
HOK

photo courtesy Doug Snower Photography

The Chicago chapter of the American Institute of Architects is moving from their current home at the Merchandise Mart to a new office in the historic Jeweler's Building, also home to Helmut Jahn's office. They are seeking LEED for Commercial Interiors certification for this small interior build-out. The chapter held a design competition for young architects which was won by the folks listed above, who completed the project design with the assistance of HOK.

Farr Associates Office

Location
53 W. Jackson Map

Owner
Farr Associates

Architect
Farr Associates

Farr's 3,200 square foot office space in the historic Monadnock Building is another example of historic preservation and green design working together. The space was a LEED for Commercial Interiors pilot project and is currently applying for the final certification.

Infant Welfare Society of Chicago

Location
3600 W. Fullerton Map

Owner
Infant Welfare Society of Chicago

Architect
SMNG-A Architects
Photo courtesy Leslie Schwartz Photography

The Infant Welfare Society is a 3-story, 39,000 sf medical office building housing a pediatric and women's health clinic and a pediatric dental clinic serving uninsured and underserved women and children. The project is an adaptive reuse of a former bank building most recently used as a YMCA. The building opened in April 2005, when the organization relocated from its former Lincoln Park location - the new Logan Square location is much closer to the population the clinic serves. The project has earned a LEED Certified rating and SMNG-A won a Driehaus Foundation award for the project.

Whole Foods Market - South Loop

Location
1101 S. Canal Map

Owner
Whole Foods Market Group, Inc.

Architect
Heights Venture Architects, LLP

The South Loop Whole Foods Market is a 53,000 sf organic foods grocery store located within the new Southgate Market development. This will be Whole Foods' largest store in Chicago and is seeking a Certified rating under LEED for Commercial Interiors. There are a handful of other grocery stores in the U.S. that have pursued LEED certification (including Whole Foods in Sarasota, Florida and Austin, Texas), and consequently the design team has invested significant effort in exploring the relationship between LEED and food stores.

Southgate Market

Location
1101 S. Canal Map

Owner
JPS Interests

Architect
Eckenhoff Saunders Architects

Southgate Market is a five-story 'mall' housing several big-box type retailers, including Whole Foods Market, Office Depot, and Linens and Things. The project is seeking a LEED for Core and Shell Certified rating. The developer has publicly questioned the value of the certification, so hopefully his experience on this project will be positive and lead to other green (and LEED) projects.

Pacific Garden Mission

Location
1458 S. Canal Map

Owner
Pacific Garden Mission

Architect
Tigerman McCurry Architects
Image produced by Built Light

Pacific Garden Mission is a 3-story, 156,000 sf rescue mission serving homeless men and women. The new building at 14th Place and Canal is a replacement (not without controversy) for the organization's two existing locations that serve men and women separately, including the location at 646 S. State with the iconic sign (which is planned to be relocated). The new facility will house nearly 1,000 beds, serve 180,000 meals a month, and include gymnasiums, classrooms, library spaces, and all of the food and laundry services required to support such a massive operation.

Technology Business Center

Location
3440 S. Dearborn Map

Owner
Wexford Equities

Architect
Cannon Design

Technology Business Center is a 138,000 sf core and shell laboratory building and one of the first pieces of the University Technology Park at IIT. The building was formerly the Illinois Institute of Technology's Chemistry Research Building and was purchased by a private company for redevelopment. Rehabilitation work on the original 1959 structure includes installation of a new atrium, exterior wall and window renovations, and new MEP services to accommodate future tenants. The tenant spaces may be built out as simple offices or wet or dry laboratories. The project is seeking a LEED Certified rating under LEED for Core and Shell.

300 N. LaSalle

Location
300 N. LaSalle Map

Owner
Hines

Architect
Pickard Chilton (Design)
Kendall/Heaton Associates (Architect of Record)

300 N. LaSalle is a 60-story, 1.3 million square foot office tower with 3 levels of underground parking and street and river level restaurant space. The project has earned LEED Gold pre-certification under the LEED for Core and Shell program. Construction began in July 2006 and is scheduled for completion in 2009.

Essentially all of the green features found in One South Dearborn, Hines' first LEED project in Chicago, are included here and need not be reiterated. One major, but not ground-breaking, addition is a green roof.

Near North SRO

Location
1244 N. Clybourn Map

Owner
Mercy Housing Lakefront

Architect
Murphy/Jahn Architects

Near North SRO is a 5-story, 96 unit single room occupancy that will be home to those on the CHA waiting list or at risk of homelessness. The average unit is only 300 square feet, but like many modern SROs, includes a private kitchen and bath. Social services are housed on the first floor. The project is under construction and targeting LEED Certification.

Bethel Center

Location
4000 W. Lake Map

Owner
Bethel New Life

Architect
Farr Associates
Image ©Farr Associates | Architecture | Planning | Preservation, Chicago, IL

Bethel Center is 23,000 sf, 2-story commercial center comprised of storefront retail spaces, a daycare center, an employment center, and a community computer lab. The building has a direct connection to the adjacent Lake & Pulaski CTA Green Line stop via a bridge. The project, which is seeking LEED Gold certification, was completed in May 2005 and received a nice review from Blair Kamin. The lead designer was former Farr principal Kevin Pierce.

340 On the Park

Location
340 E. Randolph Map

Owner
LR Development Company

Architect
Solomon Cordwell Buenz
Image courtesy of ImageFiction

340 On the Park is a 62-story, 344 unit condominium tower located on the last available site along Randolph Street between Lake Shore Drive and Michigan Avenue. If you've been to Millennium Park this summer and looked north, you've had a fabulous view of this building being closed in. Construction is scheduled for completion in 2007.

111 S. Wacker

Location
111 S. Wacker Map

Developer
The John Buck Company

Architect
Goettsch Partners

111 S. Wacker is a 53-story, 1.46 million sf speculative office tower completed in 2005 and was the first building ever to receive LEED for Core and Shell Gold certification. The project has won several awards and been the subject of varied media coverage. The building was sold earlier this year to a German investment fund, reportedly for a Chicago record-breaking $400/sf. Although the green building community would like to tout the building's greenness as contributing to this sales prices, Buck has stated they do not believe this is the case. Rather, the developer sees LEED certification here as a test case for future projects.

Cook County Domestic Violence Courthouse

Location
555 W. Harrison Map

Owner
Cook County, IL

Architect
Campbell Tiu Campbell
(Architect of Record)
Booth Hansen (Design)
Photo: Mark Ballogg

The Cook County Domestic Violence Courthouse is a 4-story, 169,000 sf building housing 10 courtrooms, social services, childcare facilities, and public agency office space. The building opened in October 2005 and is seeking LEED Silver certification. It is a replacement for the previous courthouse building at 13th and Michigan with woefully inadequate facilities. The building is the first constructed under Cook County's ordinance requiring LEED certification for all new county-owned buildings and won the 2006 Chicago Building Congress Merit Award for Rehab Construction.

Center on Halsted

Location
3656 N. Halsted Map

Owner
Center on Halsted

Architect
Gensler
Image courtesy of ImageFiciton

Center on Halsted is a 3-story, 175,000 sf community center serving Chicago's LGBT community with offices and meeting space, a gymnasium, and a small performance space. A Whole Foods supermarket is on the first floor and there are two levels of underground parking. Construction began in summer of 2005 and is scheduled for completion in late 2007. The project is seeking LEED Silver certificatiion.

Greenworks

Location
457 N. Sacramento Map

Owner
Christy Webber Landscapes

Architect
Farr Associates
Image ©Farr Associates | Architecture | Planning | Preservation, Chicago, IL

Greenworks is a new 18,000 sf 1-story office and industrial building for Christy Webber, one of Chicago's leading landscape contractors. In addition to front-office space, the building includes tool maintenance and storage areas, a rooftop greenhouse, and outdoor truck and landscape storage areas. Construction began in the fall of 2005. The project is seeking LEED Gold certification and will be featured in the MCA's companion to the visiting Massive Change exhibition.

Wentworth Commons

Location
11045 S. Wentworth Map

Owner
Mercy Housing Lakefront

Architect
Harley Ellis Devereaux

Wentworth Commons is a 4-story, 65,800 sf apartment building with 51 units and supportive services on the first floor. The building opened in June 2005, was designed to be green from its initiation, and is seeking LEED Certification. Detailed case studies are available here and here, and there is a brief Blair Kamin review. Most case studies highlight the brightly-colored graffiti-resistant exterior.

Rubloff Hall

Location
10204 S. Central Park Map

Owner
St. Xavier University

Architect
Solomon Cordwell Buenz

Rubloff Hall is a new 5-story, 37,000 sf residence hall on the campus of St. Xavier University seeking LEED Silver certification. The 26 unit, 87 bed building is opening to students this month and is the third of a series of similar dormitories recently completed, but the only one built as a green building. The dorms form a new quadrangle on campus and accommodate a growing demand for student housing. In addition to the residential units there are some office and event spaces.

One South Dearborn

Location
1 S. Dearborn Map

Owner
Hines

Architect
Richard Keating (Design)
DeStefano + Partners (Architect of Record)

One South Dearborn is a 40-story, 820,000 sf office tower that has earned LEED for Core and Shell Silver certification. The building was completed in late 2005 and like any new loop high-rise has been extensively reviewed and discussed (e.g. general information here, Blair Kamin's review here {fee}, and construction discussion here).

Clybourn Point

Location
1322 N. Clybourn Map

Owner
Rada Development

Architect
Rada Architects

Clybourn Point is a four-story mixed-use building with six residential units and a first-floor commercial space. This is one of the smallest projects currently seeking LEED certification (goal of LEED Silver) in Chicago, and is owned by a first-time developer. Many smaller green residential projects are owned by new developers who recognize green building as a way to differentiate their product, and Clybourn Point is certainly in that group. The project is also just up the street from Near North SRO (to be discussed in a future post) and City Farm, making this stretch of Clybourn one of the greenest areas in the city.

Washington Park SRO

Location
5000 S. Indiana Map

Owner
Affordable Housing Preservation Foundation

Architect
Piekarz Associates PC

Washington Park SRO is a renovation of a 50-year old, 5-story, 200 unit SRO and recreational facility into a 100% affordable 63 unit SRO with plans for a future health club. Prior to beginning this renovation, the building sat vacant for two years after the Washington Park YMCA closed due to cost overruns.

Loyola Information Commons

Location
6501 N. Kenmore Map

Owner
Loyola University Chicago

Architect
Solomon Cordwell Buenz

The Loyola Information Commons is a 4-story, 67,000 sf 'library without books'. This is probably the most cutting-edge commercial green project currently underway in Chicago, because it seeks to integrate the architecture and engineering systems in a manner only widely seen in Europe. This is surely partly due to the German firm Transsolar's role as indoor climate consultant. The project is seeking LEED Silver certification.

Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies

Location
610 S Michigan Map

Owner
Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies

Architect
Krueck + Sexton Architects

The Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies is a 10-story, 155,000 sf mixed-use building located in the landmark South Michigan Avenue streetwall. This project doesn't boldly announce its green qualities to the world, but rather meets many competing and complex demands of the site, client, program, and an innovative design. I like that this shows that not all green projects have to have a primary focus on being green. The building is a replacement for the institute's current building, which is adjacent to the new site. The institute has more detailed information on the project here. The project has received a fair amount of publicity, including Blair Kamin's article on approval of the design.