News for October, 2010
Monday, October 25th, 2010
October 25, 2010 (Chicago IL) – The Center for Neighborhood Technology’s My HomeEQ project was one of nine projects selected to receive funding through the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation’s national competition soliciting ideas for scalable approaches to spurring energy efficiency retrofits of existing buildings in the United States. Launched in April 2010, the selection process was highly competitive, with 372 pre-proposals submitted by organizations in 44 states. The process included review by a panel of experts in real estate, finance, construction, efficiency technologies and government policies. More information on the competition can be found at www.ddcf.org/retrofits.
CNT will refine and launch the online MyHomeEQ tool for homeowners interested in how to retrofit their homes for greater energy efficiency. The tool will calculate and display a home’s actual energy use, allow for comparison with similar homes based on location and type of house, provide customized recommendations for energy efficiency improvements, and offer information about local contractors and financing opportunities.
“MyHomeEQ will make it easy for homeowners to make energy improvements to their homes and, ultimately, to enable the real estate marketplace to value the improvements,” said Anne Evens, director of CNT Energy, a division of CNT.
The MyHomeEQ project will focus on the Chicago area for the initial roll-out and will develop a business plan for how to expand to other metropolitan areas.
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For more information contact:
Stephanie Folk, CNT Energy
Phone: (773) 269-4085
E-mail: sfolk@cntenergy.org
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Wednesday, October 20th, 2010
The Canadian National Gateway Intermodal Terminal, which in the coming years will increase its capacity, giving the Green TIME Zone the best access to international markets in the region.
Forty-two municipalities in Chicago’s south suburbs have been awarded $2.3 million in federal funds to implement a revitalization strategy that will make better use of the region’s established rail infrastructure to attract jobs and foster smart growth. The award is part of $40 million in competitive grants made possible by the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Sustainable Community Challenge Grant program.
The initiatives funded by the Sustainable Community Challenge grant are part of a larger multi-jurisdictional strategy known as the Chicago Southland Green TIME (Transit, Intermodal, Manufacturing, Environment) Zone, which emphasizes development around transit, intermodal freight industries, green manufacturing and environmental stewardship. Read more »
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Wednesday, October 20th, 2010
CHICAGO (October 20, 2010)—Forty-two municipalities in Chicago’s south suburbs have been awarded $2.3 million in federal funds to implement a revitalization strategy that will make better use of the region’s established rail infrastructure to focus the development of housing in transit-oriented neighborhoods, attract jobs and foster smart growth. The award is part of $40 million in competitive grants made possible by the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Sustainable Community Challenge Grant program.
At the same time, the south suburbs received a grant of professional services from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Smart Growth Assistance Program.
“Our communities have a thoughtful, coordinated plan to revitalize the Southland in a sustainable way,” said Ed Paesel, Executive Director of the South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association (SSMMA), the recipient organization of the HUD grant and a government association that provides technical assistance and joint services to member municipalities representing a population over 650,000 in Cook and Will Counties. “The federal award is exactly what we need to attract more investment and fast track the great initiatives we already have started here.”
The Sustainable Community Challenge grant recipients are required to meet six livability principles, including providing more transportation choices, promoting affordable housing, enhancing economic competitiveness, and leveraging investments.
The south suburban plan—developed by SSMMA and the Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT), with support from the Metropolitan Planning Council and a broad range of partners—epitomizes the program’s livability principles. SSMMA will use the federal award to create a land bank and acquisition fund to assemble and maintain properties near transit stations that will be developed into sustainable communities with strong connectivity between households, jobs, and amenities. The EPA professional assistance grant will be used to guide SSMMA and its partners in structuring the land acquisition fund and bank. The initiative will acquire more than 60 acres of land near transit nodes that will lead to the development of over 700 housing units in the next five years and approximately $500 million in construction activity.
The initiatives funded by the Sustainable Community Challenge grant are part of a larger multi-jurisdictional strategy known as the Chicago Southland Green TIME Zone, which emphasizes development around transit, intermodal freight industries, green manufacturing and environmental stewardship. The comprehensive plan is a culmination of years of work among institutions and organizations throughout the region, who committed financial matches as part of SSMMA’s application to HUD. The Green TIME Zone strategy aims to attract 13,000 jobs and $2.3 billion in new income to the area over the next 10 years.
“The south suburbs is poised to thrive in a green economy—with its skilled workforce, transportation infrastructure and proximity to Chicago and international freight hubs,” said Scott Bernstein, President of CNT, a Chicago-based national leader in research and demonstration projects for sustainable development and a long-term strategic partner of SSMMA. “Our innovative redevelopment plan serves as a model for communities across the country similarly endowed with passenger and freight rail assets. Today’s award announcement brings the Green TIME Zone plan closer to fruition.”
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CONTACT:
Emily Robinson, Center for Neighborhood Technology, erobinson@cnt.org, 773-269-4043
Janice Morrissy, South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association, jmorrissy@ssmma.org, 708-922-4672
About SSMMA: Located south of the City of Chicago, the South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association (SSMMA) is an intergovernmental agency providing technical assistance and joint services to 42 municipalities representing a population over 650,000 in Cook and Will Counties. SSMMA members work cooperatively on transportation, legislation, land use, economic development, recycling, purchasing, stormwater and open space planning, infrastructure, human resources, public safety and housing issues. www.ssmma.org
About CNT: Founded in 1978, CNT is a Chicago-based think- and do tank that works nationally to advance urban sustainability by researching, inventing and testing strategies that use resources more efficiently and equitably. Its programs focus on climate, energy, natural resources, transportation, and community development. CNT is one of eight nonprofits selected from around the world to be recognized by a 2009 MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions, from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Visit www.cnt.org for more information.
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Monday, October 18th, 2010
The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) has selected CNT Energy to coordinate the implementation of a $25 million dollar federal grant that will fund more than 8,000 energy efficiency retrofits, leverage more than $500 million in local investments, and create more than 2,000 jobs.
The program, known as the Chicago Region Retrofit Ramp-up (CR3), is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). CNT Energy leads a team that includes the Chicago Jobs Council (CJC), Shaw Group, Delta Institute and Renewable Funding. The team will put its nationally recognized planning, researching and retrofitting capabilities to work removing barriers that prevent large-scale participation in the retrofit marketplace. Read more »
Posted in Energy, Featured Portfolio News | 1 Comment »
Monday, October 18th, 2010
CHICAGO (October 18, 2010) – The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) announced today that it has selected CNT Energy, a division of the Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT), to coordinate the implementation of a $25 million dollar federal grant for energy efficiency retrofits for the region’s buildings. Over the next three years, the CNT Energy team will oversee completion of more than 8,000 energy efficiency retrofits, leverage more than $500 million in local investments, and create more than 2,000 jobs.
The program, known as the Chicago Region Retrofit Ramp-up (CR3), is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). CMAP and its partners, the City of Chicago and the City of Rockford, have created an innovative program that will transform the retrofit market, generate large scale retrofit activity and serve as a national model for other building retrofit efforts. CNT Energy leads a team that includes the Chicago Jobs Council (CJC), Shaw Group, Delta Institute and Renewable Funding.
“The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning is excited about this new partnership in the implementation of the CR3 program,” said Randy Blankenhorn, CMAP executive director. “Under the leadership of CNT Energy and the team they have assembled, we are tapping into the brightest and best minds on energy efficiency, which will be a significant part of making the CR3 program a success.”
The team will put its nationally recognized planning, researching and retrofitting capabilities to work removing barriers that prevent large-scale participation in the retrofit marketplace.
“We’re excited and ready to make the region’s building stock more energy efficient,” said Anne Evens, director of CNT Energy. “A huge part of the team’s job is to help homeowners and building owners sort through the complexities of making energy efficiency improvements. We’ll connect them with the information, financing and trained workforce they need to get the job done and start saving on their energy bills.”
CNT Energy currently administers the Energy Savers program, an energy efficiency program for owners of multifamily buildings in the Chicago region. Since 2007, Energy Savers has retrofitted 2,800 housing units, achieving typical energy savings of 30 percent. CNT Energy’s experience and success running Energy Savers helped it secure the implementation role for the CR3 program.
“CNT Energy has the energy efficiency expertise and the project management experience needed to expand the building retrofit market throughout the Chicago metropolitan region and Rockford,” said Sandeep Sood, a building owner who has retrofitted six buildings through the Energy Savers program. “The team’s expert advice, along with their one-stop-shop approach, made it easy for me to make improvements that would have been extremely difficult without their help.”
“Given that 70 percent of the Chicago region’s global warming emissions come from operating our buildings, it’s crucial we improve their energy efficiency,” said Evens. “The beauty in retrofits—like most thoughtful climate-friendly initiatives— is that what’s good for our pocketbooks is also good for the environment.”
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For more information contact:
Stephanie Folk, CNT Energy
Phone: (773) 269-4085
E-mail: sfolk@cntenergy.org
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Monday, October 18th, 2010
CHICAGO (October 18, 2010)— The Center for Transit-Oriented Development (CTOD) today launched a first-of-its-kind web database to provide access to comprehensive information about more than 4,000 transit zones across the United States. The web tool will help developers, investors, and city officials make planning decisions that take advantage of development opportunities around transit nodes.
The TOD Database, available at http://toddata.cnt.org, provides information on density, demographics, occupation and transportation habits of households near 4,160 existing and proposed fixed-guideway transit stations, including commuter rail, streetcars, light rail, bus rapid transit and ferries. Spanning Honolulu to Portland, Maine, the database synthesizes 40,000 data fields at half mile and quarter mile buffers around fixed rail stations to create a user-friendly web site that allows people to view maps of various transit regions and choose data reports for stations of interest. Users can also query data by geography or demographics. The TOD Database is a product of the Center for Transit-Oriented Development, a partnership among the Center for Neighborhood Technology, Reconnecting America and Strategic Economics.
“The Federal Transit Administration’s goal is to partner with communities that want to develop smart transportation solutions that will inspire new economic development, reduce congestion and our dependence on oil, and help connect people with work, school, or the doctor’s office,” said Therese McMillan, deputy administrator of the FTA, which funded the creation of the TOD Database. “Having the best data available at your fingertips will help cities, neighborhoods, and developers, achieve the goal of a more livable, walkable community that benefits all of their residents.”
“When talking to potential developers, this site will be great to give them detailed reports surrounding station areas, and the same is true for retailers who want to know about foot traffic in the area,” said Craig Sklenar, a city planner for Evanston, Illinois. “This will help any city develop really good TODs.”
When transit-oriented development is planned and implemented effectively, it is economically and environmentally beneficial to cities and families of all incomes. Dense, walkable, transit-rich neighborhoods can be more affordable, because a typical household owns fewer cars and drives less than a household in a dispersed, car-oriented community with no access to transit. TOD projects make economic sense for cities as well, since development around transit nodes make use of existing infrastructure, avoiding the expense required to install new infrastructure in greenfield locations on the urban fringe. Because they reduce transportation-related pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, TOD projects are better for the environment.
“We created the TOD Database as a one-stop shop for information on TOD to encourage more transit-focused communities in the marketplace,” said Scott Bernstein, president of the Center for Neighborhood Technology. “We’ve provided research on 4,160 transit-centered opportunities for smart development decisions that are good for people’s pocketbooks and the economy.”
“The web-based TOD Database is an exciting step for us,” said CTOD Director Sam Zimbabwe. “In the six-year history of the partnership, we have always sought to empower good decision-making and sound investment by communities large and small. We’re excited to take this step and look forward to incorporating more information over the next year as it becomes available through the U.S. Census.”
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CONTACT:
Emily Robinson, Center for Neighborhood Technology, erobinson@cnt.org, 773-269-4043
Becky Sullivan, Reconnecting America, bsullivan@reconnectingamerica.org, 202-429-6990 x206
The Center for Transit-Oriented Development (CTOD) is the only national nonprofit effort dedicated to providing best practices, research and tools to support equitable market-based transit-oriented development. CTOD partners with both the public and private market sectors to strategize about ways to encourage the development of high performing communities around transit stations and to build transit systems that maximize development potential. CTOD works to integrate local and regional planning, generate new tools for economic development, real estate and investment issues, improve affordability and livability for all members of the community, and respond to imperatives for climate change and sustainability. The Center for TOD is a partnership of Reconnecting America, the Center for Neighborhood Technology, and Strategic Economics. For more information go to CTOD’s website at http://www.ctod.org.
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Monday, October 18th, 2010
A new web tool launched today will help developers, investors, and city officials make planning decisions that take advantage of development opportunities around transit nodes. The TOD Database (short for transit-oriented development) provides access to comprehensive information about more than 4,000 transit zones across the United States.
The database is ideal for professional planners, students, or anyone who needs access to comprehensive housing and transportation data. It provides information on density, demographics, occupation, and transportation habits of households near 4,160 existing and proposed fixed-guideway transit stations, including commuter rail, streetcars, light rail, bus rapid transit and ferries. Spanning Honolulu to Portland, Maine, the database synthesizes 40,000 data fields at half mile and quarter mile buffers around fixed rail stations to create a user-friendly web site that allows people to view maps of various transit regions and choose data reports for stations of interest. Read more »
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Sunday, October 17th, 2010
Senator Durbin with CNT staff at CMAP's GO TO 2040 Launch
CNT would like to congratulate the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP), the land-use and transportation planning agency for the seven-county Chicago area, for the release of its outstanding GO TO 2040 Plan. Coming on the heels of the plan’s adoption, the agency also became one of the recipients of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant Program. The program supports State, local, and tribal governments, as well as metropolitan planning organizations, in the development and execution of regional plans that integrate affordable housing with neighboring retail and business development.
CMAP will receive $4,250,000 toward implementation of a sweeping regional plan. Focusing strategic investments in regional mobility will be a major focus. As Blair Kamin noted in the Chicago Tribune, “For years, regional planners have advocated many of the plan’s goals, such as ending auto-dependent sprawl and creating compact, walkable communities. Instead, new jobs and housing migrated ever farther outward from Chicago as buyers snapped up inexpensive homes on the metropolitan fringe.” The plan recognizes this reality and proposes that, “Given limited resources… the federal government and state should prioritize funding toward metropolitan areas, which drive our economy, rather than spreading funds too thinly.” Read more »
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Friday, October 15th, 2010
This week CNT testified at several hearings and expanded its participation in local and national transportation and environmental advisory committees.
CNT’s Director of Transportation and Community Development, María Choca Urban, spoke at a Metra commuter rail hearing about the Union-Pacific North Line viaduct improvements. She urged the board to be “more transparent and give the public greater opportunities to be meaningfully involved in planning for improvement projects.” She also offered CNT’s assistance in developing a reasonable method to accomplish that. CNT has long been an advocate for involving citizens in transportation planning projects, with tools like Transopoly. Improving the region’s transportation system is an important component in making northeastern Illinois a more sustainable place to live and work. Read more »
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Friday, October 15th, 2010
This past Columbus Day instead of sleeping in, dozens of children and older residents of the Hickory Creek Watershed, a vital subwatershed of the Lower Des Plaines Watershed located in Chicago’s southwestern region, took time to explore the natural environment in their own backyard. As part of the “Educational Adventure in Hickory Creek”, elementary students spent time walking in the creek to find wet treasures and collecting seeds in the prairie behind Lincoln-Way East High School.
At the same time, their parents and other residents learned about and provided their input to the proposed plan for the Hickory Creek Watershed. The event was co-sponsored by the Hickory Creek Watershed Planning Group and the Lincoln-Way High School Environmental Action Club. Read more »
Posted in Featured Portfolio News, Natural Resources | No Comments »
