Where there's a Will, there's a way

On a recent trip to Chicago I passed by a construction site on LaSalle Street with a sign bragging about the future building's green design and LEED certification. I finally got around to looking it up to find out that its going to be a major new high-rise that's pre-certified LEED Gold Standard.

I didn't find many news articles about the building other than one about how it received its permit quickly as part of Chicago's Green Permit Program for buildings with sustainable design. GreenBean blog wrote about some of the project's interesting features.

Its nice to see that not only is a building of that size being built with sustainable standards but that the developer also recognizes how green design enhances the commercial and residential appeal of the project. The US Green Building council has a list of LEED certified building projects in Illinois and while most of them are in the Chicagoland area, there are a number in downstate, including several in Bloomington/Normal, Peoria, Champaign, and one in Danville.

The only LEED project listed for Springfield is the new Illinois Municipal Energy Agency headquarters. I've heard from a few people that they're doing some things that will be unique for Springfield but I haven't payed close attention to it so far. Hopefully there will be more news coverage of what they're up to.