44-unit net-zero building proposed for Austin Blvd. |
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Oak Park Residence Corporation plans to replace the 12-unit multifamily building it owns on the corner of Austin Boulevard and Van Buren Street with a 44-unit new construction.
Oak Park architect Tom Bassett-Dilley, who is an expert on passive house design, was brought in to raise the bar on sustainability. The building will feature passive house techniques like sunshine, shading and ventilation instead of systems such as air conditioning and central heating. Those techniques combined with high levels of insulation and airtightness make it possible for a passive home to use 90 percent less energy than a typical dwelling.
While describing the proposed development during a recent PlanItGreen Core Team meeting, ResCorp president and CEO David Pope said that it will be "the most significant net zero multifamily building in the upper Midwest."
ResCorp is a nonprofit community development organization whose mission is to promote Oak Park as a diverse and economically balanced community by providing high-quality multifamily rental housing at reasonable rates for households of all income levels.
Pope added: "The intent is to construct something that is going to be a real model for what our potential construction can be in the community and help set an example for a lot of the other developments to come.”
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Road to community solar procurement gets wider |
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SGA's Solar Consultant Mark Burger recently briefed PIG core team members on the various ways organizations can procure solar electricity, whether on-site installations, or offsite procurements like community solar subscriptions.
"I'm focusing on two aims," Mark said. "Primarily the first aim is that people or organizations can save money on their electricity bill. And the other aspect is that we develop assets in the state of Illinois and in the ComED service territory and eventually inside Oak Park and River Forest to actually deliver the electricity as close as possible along with the attendant economic development opportunities."
Examples Mark shared included community solar subscriptions secured by the Park District of Oak Park. Mark can assist organizations through the process, beginning with looking at their electricity bill information. These procurements can save money, as well as reduce pollution.
For further information, contact Mark at solar@sevengenerationsahead.org, 708-267-7965.
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PDOP Update
Since 2016, nine of the Park District of Oak Park’s facilities have solar installations. “That’s more than one building a year,” says s Chris Lindgren, superintendent of parks and planning.
Park District executive director Jan Arnold says that more will be added as other buildings or contracts become available. “The Park District of Oak Park “saw the possibilities of doing community solar because of the size of the electrical consumptions, which was considerable but not huge.”
The nine PDOP facilities utilize energy generated by their own solar panels totaling over 370 kW. This energy generation is equal to 55 homes or planting over 22,615 trees every year for an annual cost savings of approximately $81,000. Solar panels are located at the Austin Gardens Environmental Education Center, Fox Center, John Hedges Administrative Center, Longfellow Center, Ridgeland Common Recreation Complex, and Oak Park Conservatory, Barrie Center, Carroll Center and Stevenson Center.
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River Forest Commission highlights local restaurants' vegetarian menus |
In April, the River Forest Sustainability Commission launched VegOut Meatless Wednesdays to highlight meat-free menu items at participating restaurants in River Forest, Oak Park, and neighboring communities. The restaurants will emphasize highlight fare that embody the VegOut mission of reducing beef consumption to support individual health and the health of the planet.
Supporting the VegOut initiative are two student commissioners, Ellie Raidt and Charles Roeger, who are also members of It’s Our Future. The two wrote in VegOut’s public announcement that “if our communities want to be sustainable, then we need to encourage community members to eat less meat by making meat-free options abundant. … A study by Oxford University concludes that if a person decreased their animal product consumption by one half, they would be decreasing their carbon footprint by 35%.”
Said Commissioner Susan Charrette: "We are particularly proud of the initiative of our student commissioners in this project."
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D97 energy efficient upgrades
earn rebates from ComEd
After completing two projects at its middle schools, Elementary School District 97 received about $20,000 in rebates from ComEd for the energy efficiencies the district put into place. Another rebate check for two boiler energy efficient replacements is expected.
Jeannie Keane, D97's Senior Director of Buildings and Grounds, said the district expects about $10,000 back from each boiler program. “We are converting five schools this summer to energy efficient air conditioning units on their third floor,” she added. The units “will pull some of the load up because they won't pull as much demand as the units that we are currently replacing.”
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It's Our Future hosts forums with
candidates, sustainability experts
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The youth-led group It’s Our Future is making its impact known. Over the last few months, it hosted forums with candidates running trustee and president in the Villages of Oak Park and River Forest.
On April 20, It’s Our Future also hosted a presentation by Daniela Raik, a top-level policy analyst with Conservation International who has done a lot of work on policy related to the destruction of the Amazon rainforest. During the same program, Suzy Schlosberg, a rising in the youth climate activist movement in Chicago, provided an update on ways other youth can get involved locally.
It’s Our Future members are also working on short community board presentations that they expect to do over the coming months.
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West Cook Wild Ones awards
grants for native gardens
West Cook Wild Ones announced grants totaling close to $5,000 to 11 nonprofit and public organizations in the Chicago area. The 2021 Garden for Nature grants range from $250 to $1,000 to be used solely to buy native plants or seeds.
Organizations receiving grants in Oak Park/River Forest/Austin area are:
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Austin Peoples Action Center: To beautify two undeveloped front yards with native plants. Local residents and youth will learn to tend the gardens. Temple Har Zion in River Forest is a partner.
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Citizens’ Greener Evanston: To plant native canopy and understory trees on public school grounds.
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G.R. Clark Elementary School, Chicago: To revitalize a deteriorated part of the school’s play lot by building benches and planters with native plants.
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Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Oak Park: To develop a rain garden that will capture rainwater from the roof and address existing flooding problems.
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Julian Middle School PTO, Oak Park: To increase the diversity of their native gardens with the addition of trees and shrubs around the periphery of existing prairie beds.
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Keystone Montessori School, River Forest: To replace an existing raised garden bed with native plants, a pathway, and other garden amenities for the students use, enjoyment, and beautification.
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Mothers on a Mission 28 & Moms Demand Action for Gunsense in America, Chicago: To include a native garden on a vacant corner lot. The lot includes a vegetable garden and a reflection and memorial space for survivors of gun violence.
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Our Lady of the Snows School, Chicago: To expand an existing pollinator garden with prairie and woodland plant species.
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The Way Back Inn, Inc., Maywood: To plant a native garden at their residential facility to enhance client stay by providing a more healing environment for clients, birds, and pollinators.
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Wonder Works Children’s Museum, Oak Park: To plant several raised beds with native plants. These beds will be used to educate and engage families who visit the museum.
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Help us continue our work to build healthy sustainable communities. |
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PlanItGreen is a project of the OPRF Community Foundation, facilitated by Seven Generations Ahead, which engages multiple community institutions, and is guided by the OPRF Community Foundation's Communityworks Advisory Board and the PlanItGreen Core Team.
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the achievement of community aspirations.
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