By Susan D. Turner, AIA, PMP, LEED AP
Developer: Matt Phillips, Integrated Design Development Group LLC (IDG)
Architect: Larry Booth, Booth Hanson (Chicago)
HVAC Consultants: Deirdre McDaniel, WMA Engineering (Chicago)
Interior Design Bonnie Mason, Interior Design Associates (Nashville)
Estimated Cost: $ 150,000,000
Designed in 1924 by Jarvis Hunt, the former Lake Shore Athletic Club is a twenty story, 370,000 square-foot Beaux Arts building, built of masonry [...]

The thick concrete panels of the old warehouse were ripped away and replaced with windows, creating an open, very light-driven, contemporary structure like sitting in a terminal at O’Hare Airport. The building was also equipped with an overhang protecting the glass walls from emitting too much light in the wrong areas. The orientation of the building takes advantage of morning sunlight. “I don’t really consider it a loss. We feel that considering this is the first Gold Certified Police building in the country, and that there were no renewable technology added to the building, we did very well.”

With its first LEED®-Gold restaurant, Max Carmona, Senior Director, Restaurant Design, McDonald’s USA along with the McDonald’s design team hopes to learn which technologies provide the most energy savings and environmental benefits and how they can be incorporated into future store designs. In August, the fast food chain opened its first targeted LEED®-certified restaurant in Chicago. The new fast food eatery is located at 4158 S. Ashland Avenue, just outside the Stockyards Industrial Corridor. The site was home to an older, corporate-owned McDonald’s which was torn down to make way for the new, greener establishment. John Rockwell, the lead quality manager for McDonald’s U.S. Restaurant Group (and a LEED®-AP) calls the new site a “learning lab,” intended to help the company’s design team understand how new green technologies can be employed in both new restaurants and existing ones.

Nearly every energy conservation measure possible has been applied in this green home in order to reach the zero energy goal. The remaining heating and cooling are provided by a geothermal system. The project has received city approval and is seeking state approval for a greywater and rainwater harvesting system that will be used both for toilet flushing and irrigation. The inverted roof visible in the rendering is designed for rainwater collection, but also cleverly hides the solar hot water and solar electric panels that round out the energy approach. This is a nice example of a design statement and two different performance goals all working in tandem.

Location
1823 Church Street, Evanston, IL 60201  Map
Owner
Enterprise Development Foundation
Architect
studioVIM, LLC
The Boocoo Cultural Center and Cafe in Evanston’s 5th Ward was built to engage the community at a local level in many different ways.  The 5000 square foot facility, previously a gas station, grocer, and dollar store, now contains a music school, recording studio, 125-seat performance [...]

Location
2125 W. North, Chicago, IL 60647  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 [...]