The University of Chicago has received a $50,000 grant to help fund a green roof atop the new Chicago Theological Seminary building, now under construction at 1407 E. 60th St. The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity provided the grant through the Green Roofs Program of the Federal 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
The new building is being designed to meet LEED Silver Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. Among the building’s sustainability features will be a 5,000–square–foot green roof, which will reduce the building’s heat island effect and reduce storm water runoff while providing a vegetated outdoor landscape for occupants. The University completed its first green roof in 2009 as part of the Searle Chemistry Laboratory renovation.
The new CTS building is a construction partnership between CTS and UChicago following the University’s purchase of the two existing CTS buildings in 2008. The purchase agreement included the construction of a new four–story, 77,800 gross–square–foot building for the CTS at 60th Street and Dorchester Avenue, near the Midway Plaisance.
About ARRA and DCEO: The money distributed through the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act allowed DCEO’s State Energy Office to develop new programs and expand current programs in order to fund cost–effective energy projects that create and retain Illinois jobs, reduce energy consumption and costs, increase renewable energy capacity, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. More information about the Illinois State Energy Plan administered by DCEO’s State Energy Office is available at www.ildceo.net and www.illinoisenergy.org.
—Prof. Jacqueline Stewart
