Mayor Richard M. Daley announced today that all new construction for the City of Chicago public buildings will be LEED Certified by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).
The Mayor made the announcemnent at the American Institute of Architects' national convention, saying that Chicago will strive to be the most environmentally-friendly city in the United States.
As a credit to the city's commitment to green, the Chicago Center for Green Technology received a Platinum rating – the highest LEED rating – from the USGBC. The project was built on a former brownfield site with recycled materials and includes a rooftop garden, rainwater cisterns and smart lighting systems. The building uses the earth's temperature to heat and cool itself.
Mayor Daley hopes that with these green building strategies put into place for public buildings, it will influence the private sector to adopt many of the same practices. Daley also stated that by ensuring all new construction and major renovation projects become LEED Certified, it will serve to save the tax payer money.
About LEED
The LEED" (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System is a feature-oriented rating system where credits are earned for satisfying specified green building criteria. The five major environmental categories of review include: Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy and Atmosphere, Materials and Resources, and Indoor Environmental Quality. Certified, Silver, Gold, and Platinum levels of green building certification are awarded based on the total credits earned. The LEED standard has been adopted nationwide by federal agencies, state and local governments, and interested private companies as the guideline for sustainable building.
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