Isra-Mart srl : Chicago could free of carbon emissions by 2030, architects say

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Downtown Chicago could be 100 percent free from carbon emissions by 2030, if architects Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill have their way.

Their plan outlines specific ways for old buildings in the Loop to become completely energy efficient. Aging office buildings, for example, would be converted to residential apartments, which tend to use energy at night and even out energy demand during the day. And that residential energy could come solely from locally generated wind power.

Existing underground tunnels would be repurposed as a cleaner waste disposal system to transfer waste in closed tubes to a central collecting point. And bike and pedestrians pathways in the city would be extended over the next 20 years.

Speaking at Northwestern University recently, Smith and Gill outlined their "Central Area Decarbonization Plan" for the Loop.

The pair said they are enthusiastic about making Chicago a more environmentally friendly city.

Smith and Gill are behind an ongoing plan to retrofit the Willis Tower, built in 1973, and make it energy-efficient. They also created a designed a plan for a future Willis Tower Hotel to operate solely on the energy saved from the Tower.

“After we did [the plan for] Willis, we saw shared energy and Chicago as a beautiful pairing,” Gill said. “So we thought about how we could take the concept city wide and said, 'let's draft a strategy'.”

Chicago has its own citywide action plan to create more energy efficient buildings and improve transportation options by 2030. But Smith and Gill, partners in Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill Architecture LLP, said theirs is the only firm that has conducted an actual study far to move forward with a decarbonization project and help the city meet its goals.

Known for designing large-scale, sustainable and energy-efficient buildings around the world, Smith and Gill are the architects of the One Dubai tower, one of the world’s largest projects ever designed.

As far as the decarbonization plan for Chicago goes, Smith and Gill completed an initial study evaluating all major buildings in the Loop. Private or city funding would be needed to carry the proposed decarbonization plans forward.

Gill said he has gotten a lot of questions about the Chicago plan and designs and he hasn’t met anyone who opposes them because they are cost effective.

“Why don’t we all drive energy efficient cars?” Gill asked. “Because no one has come up with a cost effective model. But we are making buildings that make economic sense for investors.”

Gill said his buildings almost pay for themselves, because their existing stock leverages out after energy savings are taken into account.

Two urban studies students from Northwestern who were in the audience said they remain skeptical about a carbon neutral city, however.

“I think decarbonization is a good goal,” senior Janice Levy said, “But I think their plan is not realistic because they aren’t taking into account how dense the Loop is.”

Senior Christina Blackston added that she is disappointed how many of Smith and Gill’s designs are for buildings that look identically futuristic.

“This takes away how pleasing it is to look at buildings built from different time periods,” she said. “Who would want to look at a city where every building is identical?”