Energy
Using energy efficiently has been a critical focus of CNT’s efforts to improve urban sustainability. In 2000, CNT Energy (formerly known as the Community Energy Cooperative) was created to explore new ways to measure energy usage and to assist individual consumers and concerned communities in achieving sustainable, affordable energy solutions.
The energy programs at CNT are consolidated under the division CNT Energy, a 501c(4) non-profit organization helping consumers and communities obtain the information and services they need to reduce their consumption and costs. CNT Energy’s areas of focus include building performance and energy efficiency, real-time electricity pricing, climate change analysis, regional energy planning, and green building research and evaluation.
CNT Energy offers consumer households up-to-date information on the rapidly changing energy market in Illinois. Members gain access to educational programs on managing energy costs, as well as opportunities to participate in pilot programs designed to benefit consumers.
CNT Energy will continue developing innovative programs and strategies to reduce energy consumption and costs, and will work to help communities become healthier and more sustainable.
To learn more about CNT Energy’s programs and tools, visit our Web site at www.cntenergy.org.
Wednesday, February 10th, 2010 at 10:30 am
The Preservation Compact announced that CNT Energy’s innovative energy efficiency program, Cook County Energy Savers, is proving that residential energy retrofits can scale-up quickly, reaching thousands of residents and delivering cost-effective, large-scale benefits.
In just 18 months, Energy Savers has retrofitted 3,500 apartments and other rental units in Chicago and neighboring communities, typically cutting energy consumption by 30 percent. The program has more than 2,500 units in construction and is on track to complete more than 8,500 retrofits by the end of this year, making it one of the country’s largest and most successful programs for retrofitting existing multi-family, rental housing.
The program is one of six key initiatives spearheaded by The Preservation Compact, a public/private partnership working to preserve and improve the supply of affordable rental housing throughout Cook County.
In their announcement, Julia Stasch, co-chair of the Preservation Compact and Vice President for Human and Community Development at the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, recognized its partners’ expertise and the program’s efficient design. “Energy Savers has quickly delivered on three key objectives: keeping our region’s rental housing affordable, creating new jobs, and achieving significant energy efficiency gains.”
Ms. Stasch stated, “We are excited that Energy Savers has achieved such solid results in a short period of time.”
Launched with seed funding from the City of Chicago and three major foundations, Energy Savers has a sustainable business model that covers the program’s ongoing costs through long-term financing shared by building owners and local utilities.
Energy Savers is also the model for a new region-wide effort to take energy efficiency services and financing to scale for both single and multi-family housing and for non-residential buildings. This new effort is backed by CNT Energy and Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) and is being funded by the Chicago Community Trust.
Read full press release here.
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Friday, January 22nd, 2010 at 3:53 pm
The U.S. Green Building Council –Chicago Chapter and its partners are recruiting up to 25 more projects for analysis in year 2 of the Regional Green Building Case Study Project. If interested in enrolling an Illinois LEED project in this multi-year study, please visit the project recruitment web site then submit a completed authorization form.
During the project’s first year the U.S. Green Building Council—Chicago Chapter and its partners collected and analyzed data from 25 projects across the state. With the generous support of the Grand Victoria Foundation and the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation, we will re-engage the initial 25 projects while adding 25 more projects, for a total sample size of 50. This is one of a few post-occupancy studies with such a broad scope of metrics and is among the first to collect multiple years of data and provide ongoing analysis to participants.
Click here to learn more about year 2 of the Regional Green Building Case Study, including eligibility requirements.
Click here to learn more about CNT’s work on the year 1 of the Regional Green Building Case Study.
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Monday, October 26th, 2009 at 1:33 pm
Today the U.S. Green Building Council – Chicago Chapter released a year-one report of the post-occupancy performance of LEED buildings in Illinois. CNT is one of five project partners and performed the project’s data collection and analysis.
The report analyzes how 25 LEED commercial building projects in Illinois perform post-occupancy over multiple years in areas including energy and water use, greenhouse gas emissions, operating costs, commute transportation and occupant comfort. The research is funded for a second year, which will kick off later this fall, and will include up to 50 new and returning projects.
The report includes nine case studies and a sample feedback report to building owners. It also discusses why both individual and program level-building performance evaluation must be tracked regularly. Understanding how a building ‘actually’ performs, rather than relying on modeled data only, is the essential first step toward improvement. Several case studies describe how their buildings’ uses have changed over time and how the changes impact their performance. “Measure and Improve!” was the steering committee‘s mantra to participants throughout the project.
This regional report is timely since it is being released as the national USGBC responds to calls for performance-based evaluations of the market dominant LEED rating system. In August, USGBC launched its Building Performance Initiative, which will create a system for collecting, analyzing and reporting on the performance of LEED buildings.
CNT and CNT Energy are working on several additional building performance initiatives. We’re developing a predictive transportation energy intensity (TEI) index with a USGBC research grant, and providing one-stop shop residential energy retrofit services for Illinois homes and apartments. We track the performance of our own LEED Platinum and Energy Star Labeled office building through our Green Intelligence Tool.
To learn more about the USGBC-Chicago Chapter Year 1 Study:
Read the report and executive summary.
Read the press releases from CNT and USGBC-Chicago Chapter.
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