Decarbonizing Chicago’s Central Area

How do you create a carbon neutral city? To find out, the City of Chicago is taking a hard look at its central area with with acclaimed architecture firm Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill (AS+GG).

AS+GG was commissioned to complete an “Energy Master Plan” for the downtown Loop area. The plan is being called the Chicago Central Area DeCarbonization Plan, and — despite being in its initial stages — is already quite compelling. Working with the Chicago Climate Action Plan, AS+GG recently completed the investigation phase of the plan, proposing to retrofit half of the city’s commercial and residential buildings by 2020; a move that will reduce energy use by 30 percent.

To help the city meet their carbon reduction goals, the team suggested eight key strategies in the following categories: buildings, urban matrix, water, mobility, smart infrastructure, waste, energy and community engagement.

For more details on this project, check out this article from Inhabitat. Scroll down for more visions of a decarbonized Chicago.

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(Posted by Sarah Kuck in Cities at 1:40 PM)

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