Earthcare
The drive to go green has garnered a lot more attention today than it has in the past—spurring Skokie planners to take action. From the new Science + Technology Park building to the new police station, an increasing number of developments in Skokie seek out Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification and promote some maintenance of the environment.
Besides the long-term economic advantages that green buildings can induce, Skokie’s residents have exhibited a desire to encourage environmental awareness. “We are concerned with sustainability,” relates Kimberly Porter, a village planner, “and we’re looking at ways of implementing green techniques.”
The new police station intends to seek LEED certification upon its completion. Since it will make use of a preexisting space, it already had great potential for LEED certification by reducing the amount of debris and wasted materials that otherwise may have been produced.
Skokie’s officials are also interested in producing renewable, cheap energy on a more widespread scale than has been available. With an ordinance allowing for new fixtures, “we would allow rooftop turbines,” says Porter, “the smaller, freestanding ones, and then larger ones in the industrial districts. We’re hoping that people would be interested in taking advantage of this ordinance that would harness that sort of power.”
In addition, Skokie allows for use of solar panels, but village planners are looking to revisit building codes to ensure residents and developers have adequate incentive to consider that option for energy, as well.
Monthly meetings of the Environmental Practices Committee further serve to bring people together to brainstorm new ways of maximizing local resources. Attendees discuss the possible use and promotion of rain gardens, research into permeable surfaces for streets and alleys, and what new types of green movements could benefit the community. The village already boasts a recycling program and a program for people to turn in old gas cans for new plastic ones. Additionally, Skokie’s water district, is selling rain barrels in order to actively put rainwater to use.
In terms of the building development industry, Skokie appears to already be ahead. “It’s the big thing now, with professional planning, to work on how not to add additional water into our system, playing around with green roofs, things like that,” says Porter. “There’s the Optima Building, about a 660-unit condominium development that used a lot of sample [green] techniques. Then we’ve had some proposals for small developments that would utilize green roofs. So we’ve seen that progression in the building industry and the professional planning as a whole.”
While developers continue to adopt conservationist thinking, village officials persevere in their exploration of new ways to implement various environmentally friendly initiatives, making Skokie an aptly prepared community for the green revolution.
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