Chicago Climate Change Initiatives

Over here at Scream – we know that buildings, not cars, leave the largest carbon footprint.  So any effort to make the world a little greener is valiant in our minds. 

Today, Chicago’s own Mayor Daley met with former President Bill Clinton today to accounce grants for climate change programs.  The Merchandise Mart was the first commercial building selected to receive funds from the Clinton Foundation’s Energy Efficiency Building Retrofit Program (or CFEEBRP – pronounced sph-ee-burp – okay – maybe I made that part up).  The Merchandise Mart is a huge building with its own zip code – seriously.  Just imagine how much energy that place uses.  Among the plans for the building is a green roof – which should be no surprise.  Chicago has a huge push for the green roof projects.

“Chicago has always led by example when it comes to protecting the environment,” Daley said. “The Clinton Climate Initiative will play a major role in helping us reach our goal of making Chicago the most environmentally friendly city in the country.”

Rumors are that they also want to put turbines on top of the Sears Tower just like they are implementing on top of Daley Center.  Wind high atop the Tower is pretty volatile, though – so there are some design concerns at this point.

Read more at the Chicago Department of Environment site or at the Chicago Tribune