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Chicago Among Top Five Greenest U.S. Cities
March 31, 2010 by matt · Leave a Comment
Continuing a national appraisal begun last year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has ranked the top U.S. cities in terms of efficient buildings. Chicago moved to fifth overall, up one spot from the previous year. The ranking is based on number of building which garnered the EPA’s Energy Star rating, of which Chicago has 134.
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Case Law: Tax Assessment Valuation
March 4, 2010 by dwagner · 2 Comments
The state Property Tax Appeal Board erroneously allowed a property owner to voluntarily dismiss its appeal to the board without giving a reason for the dismissal and without giving intervening school districts a chance to present their evidence in the case.
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Mandating Change in Illinois
December 2, 2009 by lseggelke · Leave a Comment
By Danielle Wagner
The State of Illinois wants to demand more green from its buildings. The Illinois General Assembly recently passed the Green Buildings Act into legislation. The Act, effective as of July 24, 2009, mandates that state-funded building construction and major building renovation of state-owned facilities must obtain LEED, Green Globe or an equivalent sustainable building certification.
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Building Green Chicago Conference & Expo Highlights
December 2, 2009 by lseggelke · Leave a Comment
Building on the popularity of its previous seminars, Index Publishing, in cooperation with USGBC Chicago, presented the Building Green Chicago Conference and Expo. The half-day event was a balance of showroom floor exhibiting the latest sustainable building products and educational seminars by top city officials and local leaders in the sustainability movement. Read More…
Q&A: Manny Flores Discusses a Greener Chicago
December 2, 2009 by lseggelke · Leave a Comment
By Matt Baker
In just a few years, First Ward Alderman Manny Flores has made an impression on the local political scene. Formerly an aide to Congressman Luis Gutierrez and a prosecutor in the Cook County State’s Attorney office, Flores has made political transparency and environmental consciousness essential to his platform. Read More…
Putting the Pieces Together: Training the Next Generation of Green Pipefitters
December 2, 2009 by lseggelke · Leave a Comment
By Kenneth Ruesken
Pipefitter Local 597 has been training members in the installation, maintenance and service of heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC/R) for over one hundred years. Since the inception of the green movement, they have focused their effort on training for the future. Let’s face it: if you look at the HVAC/R industry, there are many new ideas and new technologies to help save the environment.
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Case Law: Recording Land Surveys
County must record or ensure recording of all documents that effect restrictions on real estate, in order to hold any subsequent owner or purchaser responsible for the restrictions. Read More…
Case Law: Down-Zoning
September 19, 2009 by dwagner · Leave a Comment
Municipalities have lots of leeway in amending zoning laws, even if it spoils fantasies of real estate developers. But when a municipality yanks the grass carpet from under a developer by ”down-zoning” property, the vested-rights doctrine might protect the owner’s right to build structures that would have been permitted under the old regulation. Read More…
Churning Up Jobs
September 2, 2009 by lseggelke · Leave a Comment
By Linda Seggelke
If there are two major issues that define the current American zeitgeist, they are surely the hobbling economy and the looming threat of climate change. As the wildly successful “Cash for Clunkers” program has shown of late, quite often one solution can absorb the impact of both problems. Read More…
