Building a Green City
“Chicago is not only one of the greenest cities in the country, Mayor Richard Daley has set a high bar for sustainable leadership and green building is a significant part of his commitment,” said Peter Templeton, Vice President of Education and Research at the U.S.Green Building Council.
The USGBC, in fact, will hold its 2007 Greenbuild International Conference and Expo in Chicago Nov. 7-9. The conference, which drew 13,500 attendees toDenver in 2006, is the world's premiere green building conference. Appropriately, it will be held at the new West Building at McCormick Place, itself a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) registered project.
“Chicago is committed to becoming the most environmentally friendly city in the world,” Daley says. “Chicago was one of the first cities to adopt LEED for the construction of all new city facilities and to develop an expedited permit process for LEED certified green buildings.” So far, Chicago has 18, and green coatings have played a role in the certification process. For instance, a 53-story downtown skyscraper at 111 S.Wacker Drive – the first high-rise to be awarded LEED Gold Certification - used Harmony Interior Latex, a zero-VOC paint manufactured by the Sherwin-Williams Company.
Greenbuild 2007 features three days of green building educational sessions and workshops, exhibits and networking events. More info is on the web at www.greenbuildexpo.org.
Boston's green standard
Other cities are moving forward in the green building arena too. Boston, for instance, became the first major city in the nation to require adherence to the LEED Certified standard as part of the private development review process.
The city's new Green Building zoning provision requires that projects over 50,000 square feet meet LEEDstandards.The city is already home to a number of green buildings, including the Project Hope headquarters in Dorchester and the Artists for Humanity building and John Hancock Financial's U.S. Headquarters in South Boston.
“High performance buildings are the future,” said Mayor Thomas Menino, who originally launched the city's Green Building Task Force in 2003. “As we continue to grow our city, we will do so in a way that is even more sustainable. Green buildings are good for the environment, public health, and the bottom line.”
The painter's perspective
Learn more about what green building means to painting contractors on the “Green Solutions” page on the Sherwin-Williams website.
