Adaptive Reuse for LEED Wis Tavern

The first Gold certified LEED-H home in Illinois is built from the renovation of an old neighborhood tavern.  The 3,800 square foot building is used by the owners as both a residence and as the offices of their company:  Smog Veil Records.  The label has adopted an "eco-friendly" set of principles, and the owners felt their home/office ought to reflect those values as well.  Daylighting, recycled materials, and efficient appliances were all part of this project.  Inside, some of the floors are made of a terrazzo made from recycled glass and chunks of old vinyl records.  (That's probably the only kind of vinyl flooring anyone should have.)

But what really makes it a standout is its energy production.  The project incorporates numerous energy generating systems, including solar panels and roof mounted wind turbines.  It also uses a geothermal heating and cooling system.  Together, these systems should provide roughly half the electricity the building needs annually.

The roof garden ties together many of the green features of this building.  In addition to helping control stormwater runoff, it also provides some private outdoor space for a building in the middle of a city.  The roof turbines were the first installed in Chicago, but also prompted a change in Chicago's building code.  They did not just receive a variance that allowed them to extend above the maximum building height for this particular project, but rather (reflecting that city's current drive to be a leader in green building) recognizing that other buildings would be coming where the owners would want to use roof mounted turbines, the code was amended to exempt all roof mounted wind turbines from building height restrictions.

++Green Power [Chicago Tribune - image credit]
++Smog Veil Records blog
++Frank and Lisa Mauceri [National Geographic]

Image Credit: Chicago Tribune and Michael Tercha.

Comments

[Jerad Kaliher]

Renovating the local tavern into a livable green space? Brilliant.

Those turbines are great, you would think that they would be an eyesore but they really do blend in well. That goes double for the solar panels.

I would be proud to live in a home like this. I wonder if, as time goes on, if we will be able to purchase homes that are designed and maybe even prefabricated to artistic specs.

[Taylor]

Hi!
I am thrilled to see people making the right steps towards living a greener life.
I wish that I had the resources to live such an eco-friendly life.

Since I cannot restore an old tavern,I am always looking on ways to save on my utility bills and I have actually found relief this winter because of a vent-booster called the airflow breeze.
I plugged it into my vent in my bedroom which is always way way way too cold and now it is cozy because of my AirFlow Breeze!
My bills are lower and I am saving a lot of energy---which means it is good for the environment!
You should really tell your readers about this great product, it has truly saved my winter!

[Preston]

Philip,

This excellent article has been "slink"'d by Green Apartment Therapy.

[ryan]

This a wonderful project, I am looking at developing such a project for my thesis project. I have not seen the small wind turbines, very discrete. Some energy data would be a nice addition to the article along with the project's cost.

[Philip Proefrock]

Cost data is often not widely published, especially for small, residential projects, do that's often hard for us to get. Likewise with energy figures, as well as the fact that the system has probably not been in operation long enough yet to have collected useful and meaningful information.

You should also look at the Whitehead-Elniski residence that was posted this week.

Good luck on your thesis project.

[wow gold]

This a wonderful project, I am looking at developing such a project for my thesis project. I have not seen the small wind turbines, very discrete. Some energy data would be a nice addition to the article along with the project's cost.

[杭州装饰公司]

good