LEED for Homes Illinois

Finding diamonds in the rough has been the strategy for many a house-flipper, and there are plenty of people doing that with the number of foreclosed homes available on the market.  However, a new spin on this is taking a foreclosed home that needs a gut rehab and turning it into a LEED-certified home, and could be a model solution for dealing with the glut of foreclosures on the market. Read more » »

Chicago Magazine recently profiled a gut rehab home that achieved LEED Platinum certification, and included a photo tour of the home along with affordable green home remodel. View details at the Chicago Magazine online blog.

See this home for yourself at our tour on May 5!

Chicago’s green consumer magazine, Mindful Metropolis, released their January issue with an article focusing on the first prefabricated LEED home in the city of Chicago.  The project, which AES toured in December, is the focus of a two-page cover story discussing the evolution of prefab homes as an affordable green alternative.  The magazine has an interview with the architecture team of Jeff Sommers and Kate Votava, of Square Root Architecture, and their plan to replicate prefab homes across Chicagoland. Download the full article.

Another Chicago project was recently in the news, filmed by the ABC (Channel 7) News team. Tom McGrath’s Elemental Building is a gut-rehab project transformed into a high-end LEED Platinum home right in the heart of Bucktown. The project’s first move was to build a solar garage that could provide power for the construction team, and has some innovative reuse of materials.  Watch the video.

Have a newsworthy project you’re working on?  Be sure you’re on our Project List page and send us information.

Imagine that every building maintained the ecological balance needed to sustain life on earth. An immensely complicated goal?  Maybe.  But if we put our fears of failure at the back of the bus, we will maximize the possibility of success.

An Ecologically Balanced Building (EBB), then, is the most advanced building possible for our times because it strives to replicate the ecological balance found in nature.

This project in Isabella, MN was designed to consume an annual energy load of Read more » »

AES certified another LEED Platinum home in Wisconsin that features a picture-perfect location on Lake Michigan’s west shore in Racine, Wisconsin. The Scekic-Osborne home is a three-bedroom, 1900 square foot home — an example of the recent trend of home sizes retreating to more reasonable levels rather than the McMansions of yesteryear. The home, designed by Johnsen Schmaling Architects of Milwaukee, mixes modern architecture with a growing design trend known as “micro architecture,” which places a premium on petiteness, design and sustainability.

Download Scekic-Osborne Residence Profile

The home’s modern exterior features Read more » »

Chicago’s Yannell residence has gained a lot of notoriety as the first “net-zero” home in the city – capable of producing as much energy as it consumes. Yet another home on Chicago’s far northwest side, the Helenowski Residence, has joined the prestigious ranks of ultra-green LEED Platinum homes. In fact, it’s one of the highest overall point totals ever achieved for a LEED-certified home.

Net-Zero LEED Platinum Home - Zukas Photography

This incredibly energy-efficient home was actually a gut-rehab of Read more » »

32 three-bedroom homes to lease for $590/month in Jerseyville, IL
Solar panels, wind turbines to cut utility bill to $0; LEED Platinum preliminary rating

The long-awaited promise of affordable, net-zero, green living will finally become reality in a St. Louis suburban cornfield in southern Illinois, where 32 single-family homes will be rented for $590 per month. Solar panels, wind turbines and other technology will reduce the utility bills to $0. The homes are expected to be LEED Platinum certified at completion, with AES as the LEED for Homes Provider.

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The Alliance for Environmental Sustainability (AES) announces an exciting new addition to its LEED Homes roster in Illinois: the first prefabricated “green” home to be built in Chicago, which will earn the prestigious LEED Platinum certification upon completion. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) for Homes certification provides third-party assurance that a home complies with rigorous technical requirements for energy and water efficiency, indoor air quality, non-toxic materials, and environmental performance. Square Root Architecture, along with Helios Design/Build and Indiana Building Systems, will be installing the prefabricated green home, a single-family residence in Chicago’s West Town neighborhood.

C3 Prefab in Chicago

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The Gworek Residence is a new home constructed in the historic neighborhood of
Wilmette, IL, planning for LEED Platinum certification. The home was designed for a family of four and is meant to optimize energy efficiency, while respecting the scale and character of the neighborhood.

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Initial results from an analysis of LEED Platinum homes certified by the Alliance shows projects located throughout the Midwest use half as much energy as the typical baseline home.

Performance of LEED Platinum homes vs Baseline homes

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