by David Anderson, Licensed Architect and LEED AP BD & C

Energy consumed by all the buildings in Chicago accounts for 70% of the city’s total greenhouse gas emissions and a substantial portion of these buildings are the homes where we live. To help counteract this, the Chicago Climate Action Plan calls for several agencies to come together and ramp up retrofitting homes in the Chicago area with a 25 million dollar Department of Energy grant.

This topic was part of the discussion at the USGBC Illinois Chicago Branches presentation on the emerging residential green real estate market. The event was held at the Green Depot, a smaller version of a Lowes or Home Depot for sustainable building materials located at Fullerton and Pulaski in Chicago. The program discussed a variety of topics including different residential green rating systems including HERS and LEED for Homes and marketing green homes to prospective buyers.

Part of the outcome of all of this is the creation of a Green MLS where real estate agents can market new or retrofit green homes to clients. The MLS or Multiple Listing Service is assembled by the Real Estate Board as a shared database of virtually all the homes for sale in the United States. Homes have already been listed on the Green MLS in parts of the country for several years and more areas are picking up on this trend. Preliminary studies conducted in Portland and Seattle have shown that green certified homes take less time to sell and fetch higher prices than their non-certified counterparts. An important statistic as the housing market continues to struggle with a glut of homes for sale in the wake of the financial crisis.

Hopefully this represents the start of a shift where sustainable homes will become part of the mainstream marketplace instead of being unique “only house on the block” entities.  The public building sector has led the way up to this point with an ever increasing number of new buildings and existing building retrofits seeking green certification with both building owners and municipalities seeing the long term value of building sustainably. Reaching greenhouse gas emission reduction goals by 2020, 2040 and beyond will become more of a reality with housing doing its part.

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By Chris Chwedyk

Frank Lloyd Wright started his first office out of his home in Oak Park in 1898. For several years, this Home and Studio has served as both a tourist attraction and as the central office of the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust. When Mary Ellen and I lived down the block on Forest Avenue, she became a volunteer at the Home and Studio, eventually becoming a Research Captain for two homes on the Wright Plus Tours, an annual event in May.

When we left Oak Park and purchased a small co-op unit in Hyde Park, I felt it was only fitting that I start volunteering at Robie House, the second of the Preservation Trust’s sites, on the campus of the University of Chicago. I was trained last summer and have been giving House tours since September.

When Frank Lloyd Wright opened his office in Oak Park, he realized that he also needed a downtown presence to be accessible to more clients. Wright chose the Rookery Building as the site of his Chicago office, located at 209 South LaSalle Street. In 1905 Wright remodeled the lobby spaces — striking a balance between Burnham and Root’s original ironwork and ornamentation with his own Prairie style concepts. The Rookery is Wright’s only executed solo project in the Loop, after leaving Adler & Sullivan in 1893.

 This past December, the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust opened a public information center, as well as administrative offices for the not-for-profit’s development, membership, events, communications, and guest relations divisions. On April 1, the Trust will begin offering free tours of selected areas of The Rookery and later this Spring will open a “ShopWright” gift store 

Alex Westa and I assisted staff architect Karen Sweeney obtain approval for what should have been a very simple permit for installing Steelcase full-height partitions to add a conference room. Unfortunately, there is no good process in Chicago for obtaining a permit to do this work without going through the Standard Plan Review. So, of course, the plans got bogged down with some corrections. Karen states that, during the process, “Burnham was very professional, kept us continuously up to date and were very responsive. They were very helpful with their knowledge of how the City Permit process works.”

 In the end, Karen sailed through the Open Plan Review and she received the permit one day before the contractor showed up to build the room. Although Burnham waived our usual fee for this work, we know that we helped in some small way in making the Trust’s new home at the Rookery that much more functional, and assisted in their work to showcase one of Daniel Burnham’s greatest Chicago buildings.

Check out the Wright Angles newsletter at http://www.epaperflip.com/aglaia/viewer.aspx?docid=8c76563131c1433cbd8a28735377ab21

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By John Progar

Earth Hour is quickly approaching, but it is not too late to participate!

Citizens, companies, and municipalities from all over the world will “Turn it Off”  tomorrow for one hour at 8:30 PM local time.  Earth Hour is a big deal for all of us and is important to Burnham employees.

Last year, during a trip to the South West, I had the opportunity to witness Earth Hour in Las Vegas.  Being it was my first time in Las Vegas, my experience was truly memorable when I saw the Vegas Strip at night and then see it power down.  In fact, a Hoover Dam tour guide told us the dam operators were preparing for a decrease in power demand because of Earth Hour.  Now that’s impressive!

Sadly though many people in Las Vegas were unaware of what was going on and believed there was an electrical problem in the city!  Sadly that was not true.  On that, I felt a need to push harder and spread the word about Earth Hour and its benefits.  Hopefully more people know about Earth Hour this year, but you should ask your friends, relatives, and co-workers if he or she is participating.  You might be surprised at how many people don’t know so get out there and do your part!

http://www.earthhour.org

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By: John Progar

Yes folks, a special day is dedicated to your System Administrator, Network Administrator, or just about anyone involved with the I.T. dept.  You may know this person as your go to guy or gal when e-mail does not work or your favorite web browser does not pull up a web page or the mouse stops “clicking”.

Did you know System Administrator Appreciation Day is approaching fast?  July 29, 2011 is the day to mark your calendars and bring a treat or give thanks to those in the technology trenches.  Because if you don’t maybe your computer will crash for no reason.

http://www.sysadminday.com/

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By John Progar – System Administrator / Network Administrator

Another Sprint customer believes there is a problem, but it probably has not been addressed.

http://community.sprint.com/baw/message/266950

Burnham is also experiencing inbound and outbound call problems with BlackBerries when phones are in the loop area.  I called Sprint and was told no network issues are present, but I should upgrade software on our phones to see if that helps.  In my opinion, that does not make sense.  If my phone works in the suburbs it should work in the loop without the need to upgrade any software.

From another point of view, if Sprint upgraded the network and the phones require an upgrade as well then why was I not informed?  What about other companies in the loop area, were they informed?  Moreover, if I have to burden an upgrade for 20-30 phones how are larger firms with 100-500 or more phones handling the issue?  I can’t believe Sprint would expect to flip a switch, upgrade the network, and throw away service for thousands of customers without a riot.

So far a software upgrade has not worked.  In fact, the first attempt to upgrade was with my BlackBerry, which failed and destroyed the phone.  After I received the new phone I left it alone so I could use it.

Is anyone else having Sprint service problems in the Chicago loop?  Please post!  If service is working great for you, please post!  I’m in the dark here and want to troubleshoot the problem, but it’s hard to do without any information other than what I see happening.

For our clients out there, please call our main line at 800-407-7990 if you cannot call a Burnham employee on his or her BlackBerry.  We can route your call quickly or have the person you are trying to reach call you back right away.

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By John Progar – System Administrator / Network Administrator

At the beginning of February 2011, the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) announced the last Internet addresses will be handed out.  Does this mean the end of Internet expansion?  Certainly not, but instead a historic event is about to occur.

Currently, the Internet uses Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) to assign unique addresses to web servers and other resources hosted on the Internet.  Think of IPv4 as the postal system for computers with house numbers, zip codes, and so on to send a package from point A to point B.  With computers, instead of physical packages moving around there are data packets flying across wires to show you a web page or bring streaming audio to your computer speakers.

The answer to the inevitable exhaustion of IPv4 is IPv6, which has a lot more address space.  For years there has been a buzz around IPv6.  Tech groups and analysts have made predictions as to when we would run out of addresses, but the day has finally come.  What does this mean to you?  Will IPv4 go away completely?

As IPv6 comes into our lives the impact should be minimal.  Generally speaking, IPv6 will mostly affect Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and large businesses with complex corporate networks.  But even then the master minds behind IPv6 thought ahead and included features to provide flexibility in place of massive network restructuring.  The home user and even small companies should be able to continue on with business as usual.  With that said, IPv4 will not disappear and become a relic in a museum exhibit.  The protocol will be alive and well for many years to come.

What about tech folks?  I’ve been told that IPv6 may not hit your door step for a while.  Could be a year or five years until you are required to have active knowledge.  However, with the turn of events I suggest brushing up on IPv6 skills and concepts – I certainly have.  Besides it’s fun!

Fun Links:

http://www.tekcert.com/blog/2011/02/02/ipv4-exhaustion-here-time-learn-ipv6

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPv6

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The Chicago Department of Buildings has a few remaining seats available for the next Self-Certification Training Class. This class will be held on April 27-29, 2011.

All architects interested in attending this class should contact Vince Fontana at 312-743-7039 or vince.fontana@cityofchicago.org to reserve one of these remaining seats.

IMPORTANT NOTICE:

As per Rule # 24, (See Attached), all Self-Certification Architects who completed this training class prior to 2009 have an expiration date of 12/31/2012. Upon retaking the training class these Self-Certification Architects will have 5 years added on to their current 12/31/2012 expiration date.

Important information about the Self-Certification Training Class:

1. The class will be held at the Department of Building’s Inspectional Service office located at 120 N. Racine Avenue.
2. The class is a 3 day class from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm.
3. Street parking only is available but difficult to find. Parking in the DOB, CTA and OEMC parking lot is NOT allowed. Illegally parked vehicles will be towed.
4. The CTA Madison Bus, Route #20 stops within 2 blocks of the office.
5. The class size is approximately 27 persons.
6. A binder of reference materials will be provided.
7. A continental breakfast, box lunch and beverages will be provided each day.
8. A certificate of completion will be awarded on the last day of class. The certificate states that 21HSW continuing education contact hours were obtained during this 3 day class. The 21HSW contact hours are also awarded to professionals who only audit the class.
9. The class fee is $2500. The Self-Certification privilege is valid for a 5 year period.
10. The Rules and Regulations for the Self-Certification Permit Program are available at www.cityofchicago.org/buildings

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