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A Field Study in Chicago: Past,
Present, and Future
July 28-30, 2008
Northwestern University is pleased to present the second annual
Green City summer institute, a three-day program that explores
Chicago as one of America's greenest cities. Chicago's Environmental
Action Agenda commits the city to reducing its use of natural
resources, improving the quality of life in Chicago as a whole,
and saving taxpayer dollars through wise energy and resource-conserving
policies. By building green, improving energy efficiency, promoting
alternative fuels, recycling waste, and conserving and improving
water quality, Chicago has pledged to lead the nation in the
urban environmental movement.
The Green City summer institute offers an opportunity to
get out into the city and see how the agenda is moving forward
- through architecture, landscaping, urban farming, transportation,
walkable communities, and infield redevelopment - and to
evaluate how far Chicago has come and how far it has to go.
Through a combination of lectures, group project work, and
visits to key sites in Chicago, this institute will introduce
you to the important issues surrounding sustainable development
in an urban environment.
For more information about Green City:
Preliminary
Schedule for the 2008 Green City Program and Site Visits
Day One (7/28): The
Big Picture and The Past
- 8:15 am: Breakfast, Ford Engineering
Design Center, Evanston campus
- 8:30
am – 11:30am: Presentations: Prof. Kimberly Gray,
Prof. Joseph Schofer
- 11:30
am – 12:30pm: Lunch
- 12:30 pm – 4:30 pm: Site
visit to the The Field Museum (bus lecture en route: Prof. Henry Binford)
The Field Museum brings global biodiversity and the issues of conserving it to the people of Chicago and the world. With over a million visitors each year and around 40 permanent exhibitions, the Field combines world-renowned scientific research with award-winning design to reveal the connections between plants, animals and people. The institution's exhibitions and educational programs provide hands-on opportunities to examine and experiment with nature using the tools and techniques of scientists, nurturing a sense of curiosity and inquiry about how the world works and further educating the public about biodiversity.
Day Two (7/29): The Present
- 8:15 am: Breakfast,
Ford Engineering Design Center
- 8:30 am – 11 am: Presentations:
Nathan Kipnis, Prof. Joseph Schofer
- 11 am – 4:30 pm: Site
visits in Chicago
Picnic Lunch at City
Farm:
A sustainable organic farm bordering two diverse neighborhoods,
Cabrini Green and the Gold Coast, this model for urban
agriculture boasts 30 varieties of tomatoes, as well
as beets, carrots,
potatoes, gourmet lettuces, herbs, and melons. All produce
is grown in composted soil generated from the city's
finest restaurants, which in turn purchase the food
grown on the
farm, thus completing the cycle. With an estimated 80,000
vacant city lots in Chicago, mostly in economically under-developed
neighborhoods, turning vacant land into an asset for
the community is City Farm's primary objective. This
visit will
include a picnic lunch on the farm, and a conversation
with its founder, Ken Dunn.
Green Roof on City Hall:
More than 60 green roofs were installed or planned in 2005
through City initiatives, bringing the total of green
roofs in the City to over 200 and creating over 3 million
square
feet of roofs that keep the city cool and reduce the
amount of storm water directed to the City's sewer system.
Chicago
City Hall features the country's first rooftop garden
on a municipal building. In small groups of no more than
15
people at a time, we will be granted special access to
this showpiece for urban greening.
The Center for Green Technology:
Inaugurated in 2002, the Center for Green Technology
is the first municipal building to receive a LEED certified
rating, the national standard for energy efficient,
cost effective and healthy building. It is one of only
five
buildings in the country to receive the Platinum certification--the
highest LEED rating. In 2005, 22 new City buildings,
including fire stations, schools and libraries, registered
for LEED certification. Since 2006, Chicago has committed
to building all of its new buildings at a minimum LEED
Silver level with a target of Gold. Few cities in the
country have established such ambitious environmental
building standards. This visit will include a presentation/tour
with Kevin Pierce, principal architect for Farr Associates,
the firm that designed the Center for Green Technology.
Day Three (7/30): The Future
- 8:15 am: Breakfast, Room 1-200, Ford
Engineering Design Center
- 8:30 am – 12pm: Site
visit to Prairie Crossing, Grayslake, Illinois (bus lecture en route: Prof. Joseph Schofer)
This "conservation community" situated
an hour north of Chicago, was designed to combine responsible
development,
the preservation of open land and easy commuting by rail.
It is now considered by many to be a national example of
how to design our communities to support a better way of
life.
- 1 pm – 4:30 pm: Discussion/wrap
up at Ford Engineering Design Center: Prof. Kimberly Gray, Prof. Joseph Schofer
- 4:30 pm: Wine and cheese reception in Ford Center
Program Faculty
- Kimberly Gray, Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering,
Northwestern University
- Joseph Schofer, Professor, Civil
and Environmental Engineering, Northwestern University
- Ken
Dunn, Founder and Director, Resource Center and City
Farm, Chicago
- Nathan Kipnis, Principal, Nathan Kipnis Architects,
Inc., Evanston
- Kevin Pierce, Kevin
Pierce, architect and urban designer, Chicago
Who Should
Attend:
The Green City Summer Institute is open to anyone interested
in the topic of sustainability, environmental issues, urban
planning and design, which includes citizens and professionals
who
drive development: community action groups, town planners,
architects and engineers. The program provides useful information
to secondary school teachers, real estate professionals,
facilities managers, developers, and contractors, in addition
to undergraduate and graduate students from all disciplines.
Discussion will be interdisciplinary, problem-solving and
empowering in nature, introducing participants to the analytical
tools for making decisions and a list of resources for further
action.
Location and Directions:
The Green City Summer Institute takes
place July 28-30, 2008 at the Ford Engineering Design Center-itself
a LEED
certified (Silver) building on the Evanston campus-with
a portion of each day devoted to site visits in and around
Chicago. Directions to the Northwestern campus in Evanston
are available online at http://www.northwestern.edu/campus/directions/.
Registration
Information
Tuition for the three-day Green City Summer Institute is $625, and includes transportation to and from site visits, lunches, and refreshments throughout the institute. Students must register for the entire program and not for individual sessions or days. To register for this program, please click here.
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