Chicago Center for Green Technology In 1998 the City of Chicago and the local chapter of the American Institute of Architects created a "memorandum of agreement"—a pact to work together to improve the environment through the building process, and the Chicago Center for Green Technology (CCGT) was its first major project. The point of the design is to create a springboard for public, municipal, and corporate understanding of the benefits of building green, and to display a wide range of the technology available for sustainable design, while operating a working building with rent-paying green-friendly tenants. Every year since the building opened in May of 2002 more than 5,000 visitors have toured the facility. In 2005, that number topped 10,000. Outside groups are encouraged to use the facility for meetings and events, and the City has developed and runs an educational program that features classes and workshops through which participants earn a "green certificate" in building design, green maintenance, native plant gardening, and several other tracks. Only the third certified Platinum building in the nation, CCGT is also the first in this category for municipal buildings and building rehabilitation. I assembled many of the following images for the AIA's Top Ten Green Buildings award, which the building received in 2003. The project is the first in Chicago to use geo-thermal heating and cooling. Utilizing the constant 52˚ temperature of the earth in conjunction with heat pumps helps the building achieve a 45% reduction in energy use compared to a similar "base case" hypothetical building designed to meet the International Energy Conservation Code. Other green aspects include: • 20% of building energy needs from rooftop and building-integrated photovoltaic panels. • a demonstration vegetated (green) roof. • canola-oil substitute for hydraulic fluid in the elevator, which eliminates the petroleum contamination typical of hydraulic elevators. • "cool daylighting" systems using skylights and automatic fixture dimming to harvest sunlight. • low-emitting paints, sealants, composite wood, and carpet to reduce environmental toxins. • 70% of rooftop rain is collected for landscape watering and maintenance. • reflective Road-Oil paving for paths and parking areas uses natural pine-based binder instead of petroleum and reduces urban heat build-up. • specially planted bio-swales collect surface run-off and help purify and infiltrate it while it flow to a natural wetland detention pond. Project completed as a principal designer with Farr Associates.