GreenBean

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.

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.

Millennium Park Bike Station

Location
239 E. Randolph Map

Owner
City of Chicago

Architect
Muller & Muller

The Millennium Park Bike Station was completed in 2003, and although it is not LEED certified, it does warrant brief coverage as a green project. This is mostly because of the inherently green use of the 3-story building, as one of the nation's only centers dedicated to bicycle commuting and recreation. The building includes storage space for 300 bikes, showers, toilets, lockers, bike rentals, a bike repair station, a small summer time cafe, and houses the Chicago Lake Front Bike Police headquarters. Note that naming rights have finally been sold, so the official name is McDonald's Cycle Center (which this author considers an oxymoron).

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.