Cities: Chicago, Illinois

by Harold Hermanson

~Overall ranked #4 on SustainLane's most sustainable cities in 2008, ranking #1 in Water Supply and City Innovation, as well as top 15 in the nation in almost half of the categories.  Worst ranking: 43rd in Air Quality.
 
~Chicago's Mayor, Richard Daley, has been moving the city towards becoming more sustainable since he took office in 1989.
 
~Chicago has become known as the "Green Roofs City" as more than 4.5 million sq. feet of rooftops are covered with vegetation. (to combat their carbon emissions and change air quality)
 
~One organization, Chicago Green Homes Program, has helped many incorporate sustainable designs into residential buildings.  Quote from their program: "As a whole, Version 1 of the program enrolled 198 homes and Version 2 has 156 enrolled. We have 23 certified projects in the program, this is mainly do to the construction process. Our team is currently working on Version 3 and hope to release it this year."
 
~The program is housed at the Chicago Center for Green Technology: "the most comprehensive green design and educational resource in the Midwest."
 
~Interesting point: There has been some talk about making the Sears Tower the largest green structure in the United States.
 
~General opposition is not very strong against sustainability in Chicago.  The city is rather progressive, and the mayor has been historically aggressive towards becoming more green.