Midwest Permaculture

I stopped at the
Chicago Center for
Green Technology (CCGT)
in Midsummer to get a good feel for this stop as part of our Chicago Permaculture Tours. What follow are some of the photos I took.

This is the back of the building, looking east. You can just make out the Sears Tower on the horizon.

In this green open-space the traditional lawn is totally missing.

The CCGT has become a national model for sustainable design and technology since it is the first rehabilitated municipal building in the nation to receive the LEED™ Platinum rating by the US Green Building Council.

This is the plaque certifying such sitting near the entrance of the building.

One of the things I was struck by (and grateful for) was the sense of care and even beauty that went into much of the design.
(See Below)

Among other things, this building project displays many permaculture oriented features such as the use of recycled materials, photo voltaic electricity, geothermal heating and cooling, a green roof, a combination of innovative water catchment features, and more...

LEED Platinum status is the most difficult rating to achieve by the Green Building Council and as I understand it, there are less than 100 buildings in the US that have done so.

Along with its 'green features, I also found the CCGT very architecturally pleasing.

Here is the main entrance.

The main lobby is open and airy and immediately invites the visitor to feel at home with all the educational materials easily at hand.

All in all, there are probably two dozen displays similar to this one that discuss and describe all of the unique features that qualified this building to be Platinum LEED Certified.

 

 

Below Left: Outside the building the education continues with sidewalk plaques that explain individual features.

Below Right: This is a modeled cross-section of the green roof system. It is an integral part of the hydrological cycle of the building and surrounding property.

This display briefly explains how three of the design features of the property work together to hold valuable rain water on the property and keep it out of the city's storm sewer system.

These three permaculture design components include the green roof, the bio-swales and the wetlands.

For the folks working in the CCGT, there is a central courtyard where they can meet, take a break or eat lunch.

The small patio tiles or bricks used here are filled in with small stones thus allowing rainwater to percolate through the pavement and into the ground below.

Here is a closer view of those patio bricks

A variety of herbs and flowers fill the raised beds in the courtyard.

Below: One of the main features of the water collection system are these 2,000+ gallon tanks.

I loved the technique of placing lattice around the tanks. Not only do the tanks 'disappear' over time as the foliage grows, if grapes and/or kiwi were grown on the lattice, there would be a great food crop available to the building inhabitants as well as passers-by.

For what it is worth, the foliage also keeps the water cooler.

This is the wetland area alongside of the building that acts as a huge bio-water-filter, holding the rain waters until they can soak into the ground.

 

Drive an electric car?
There are several places where you can park and charge your car (partially from the solar panels on the roof of the building) while you are at work.

When was the last time you saw a greenhouse as part of a commercial/industrial building?

If I worked at the CCGT, I know where I would spend my breaks in the middle of winter.