Edgewater Environmental Sustainability Project
Last year the Edgewater Community Council launched the Edgewater Environmental Sustainability Project. The goal of the project was to move Edgewater to a more sustainable lifestyle (Sustainability: development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs). The impetus for the project is the Chicago Climate Action Plan that calls for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the city in 2020 by 33% from the 2005 emissions. The idea is that such a reduction would cause many changes in how we conduct our daily business, and to be proactive in what changes we make and how we make them.
A plan for the Project will be issued shortly, which discusses the nine target areas of the Project, including:
- Renewable Energy
- Energy Efficiency
- Green Schools and Parks
- Natural Space and Public Art
- Water and Air Resources
- Transportation; Resources
- Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
- Education
- Public Awareness and Cleaning the Neighborhood.
The driving force for the plan is the Planning and Development section, authored by Edgewater residents Carmen Vidal-Hallett, Leed AP; Thom Greene, Architect and John Aquilina, Architect. In this section, they strongly support the preservation of existing historical structures in Edgewater, suggesting that all structures be reassessed for the City’s rating for historic buildings, and recommend local preservation by means of Development Rights Transfers and Zoning Overlays be used to save historic structures from future loss.
The Co-chairs of the Committee are Allen Stryczek, Tom Murphy and Anne Comeau.