News for May, 2004
Wednesday, May 26th, 2004
First of its kind award recognizes excellence in Sustainable Building Design
CNT has been awarded Mayor Daley’s GreenWorks Award for excellence in Sustainable Building Design. It received the award at the U.S. Green Building Council-Chicago Chapter’s Emerald Gala on May 8, 2004.
The GreenWorks Awards is a bi-annual program that recognizes outstanding examples of green building in Chicago’s private sector. Awards were chosen in two categories: Residential Projects and Non-Residential Projects.
CNT was named 2004 Outstanding Non-Residential Project. In the renovation of its headquarters, an 80-year-old former textile factory, CNT used an integrated planning approach that involved all project stakeholders. The building’s renovation was guided by the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Green Building Rating System™ Version 2.0. Features include native landscaping and natural stormwater management, low-emitting VOC materials and a thermal ice storage system for air conditioning.
The 2004 GreenWorks Awards applications were evaluated by a jury of sustainable building and design experts who considered how well each building integrates systems, uses energy efficiently, provides a healthy environment for occupants, is sensitive to natural surroundings, and minimizes the environmental impact of materials, construction and operation.
“The Center for Neighborhood Technology renovation demonstrates that green building and design can be done affordably and aesthetically, using readily available products,” said Sharon Feigon, CNT.
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Tuesday, May 25th, 2004
ESPP featured in Newsday, May 16, 2004:
…Small amounts of conservation during the short periods when electric prices soar can lead to substantial reductions in overall energy bills, but experts have been stumped about how to get consumers to act.
Now a range of new programs is seeking to educate the public about fluctuations in power prices and give them financial incentives for conserving or shifting their usage to periods when electricity can be generated more cheaply…
In Chicago, a first-of-its-kind pilot program [ESPP] is tracking residential customers’ usage by time of day and charging rates based on actual market prices for the same times. Those customers can now see the price fluctuations that flat rates have always hidden, and save money by adjusting their habits accordingly.
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Monday, May 10th, 2004
The Lake Michigan watershed will be the focus of a one-day seminar dedicated to discussing current issues and proposed solutions for this region. Sponsored by the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission and the U.S. EPA, the conference will offer panels of experts who will address issues such as beach closings and water supply for the northeastern Illinois and southeastern Wisconsin portion of the Lake Michigan watershed.
Proposed solutions will include case studies of successful local government programs, coastal zone management, and watershed planning. Tools and data sources to aid in decision-making will also be presented.
The conference will be held at the Illinois Beach Resort and Conference Center in Zion, Illinois. The full program with registration form is available on NIPC’s website. For questions, please contact Irene Hogstrom, NIPC, at 312-454-0400 or ireneh@nipc.org.
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Monday, May 10th, 2004
By Tim Zorn / Post-Tribune staff writer
A map can show where to go and the best route to get there. But a new map produced by two Chicago-based environmental organizations aims to do more than that.
The “Natural Connections” map shows  for the first time in a single view  the Chicago region’s natural areas from Wisconsin to Indiana. Representatives from Openlands Project and Center for Neighborhood Technology, the organizations that led the mapping project, expect it will provide more than a graphic portrayal of the Chicago region’s natural areas. They think the map  plus the data on the project’s Web site  will show communities and their planners how to connect natural areas to create “green infrastructure” areas where plants and animals can thrive.
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Thursday, May 6th, 2004
City News Chicago, CNT’s interactive community information website, now
includes a mapping feature that incorporates indicators of a community’s
health. In addition to providing property-specific data, as the site has
always done, users can now map certain data sets at a ward or census tract
level to get a better understanding of the community and how it compares to
neighborhoods across the city. The site will continue to be updated with new
indicators. Visit the new mapping feature and look how parks are an added
amenity to our communities.
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Tuesday, May 4th, 2004
Blocks, Streets and Buildings Today: The New City Beautiful
As sprawl eats up natural environments, turns parents into
chauffeurs, and separates jobs from the people who need
them most, the Congress for the New Urbanism CNU offers a
strong and valuable alternative. CNU is the leading organization working to build and rebuild mixed-use, walkable communities. Their annual Congress is an unparalleled setting for discussing the methods for creating vibrant towns and
cities. This year’s CNU XII will be held in Chicago, from June 24-27, 2004 at the Palmer House Hilton. For more information or to register visit www.cnu.org or call 1-800-788-7077.
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