November 28th, 2007
“It’s a paradigm shift for developers,” the commissioner adds. “The bottom line is it is easy being green. It makes an awful lot of sense, and it saves money.”
As far as signing on with the Clinton Foundation’s Energy Efficiency Building Retrofit Program, Chicago becomes one of 40 cities around the world now working with the former President’s Climate Initiative, to reduce emissions and mitigate urban-heat islands. The program is partially underwritten by the world’s five largest banks and various energy suppliers.
In Chicago, the first order of business will be to retrofit the famous Merchandise Mart, said to be the largest commercial building on the planet. The City will then tackle the Sears Tower.
The project is unique, according to City Hall, because it makes residential properties of 25 units or more (not just commercial buildings) eligible for retrofit funding.
“Our Chicago experience has convinced us that even the smallest energy retrofit can save homeowners between one and two thousand dollars a year,” Daley said at the Clinton press conference, explaining …”The City has already retrofitted 15 million square feet of its own buildings to save energy and next year (2008) will perform lighting retrofits in about 100 buildings.”
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