Help CNT Create A Sustainable Future

2009 Annual Campaign

Your support helps CNT develop the innovative programs that build more livable and sustainable urban communities. Unrestricted funding in particular-not tied to any specific project-gives us the freedom to test different strategies and fund the research and development activities that larger institutional donors are less able to support.

Ways to Give

Outright Gift

An outright gift to the Center for Neighborhood Technology can be made by check or credit card. You may make a credit card donation online, or mail your donation to:

Center for Neighborhood Technology
Attn: Accounting
2125 West North Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60647

Innovation Fund

A gift of $1,000 or more will help initiate and support our Innovation Fund, which enables CNT to research and develop inventive programs that foster livable and sustainable urban communities. For more information about the Innovation Fund, email Nicole Gotthelf, Director of Development.

Stock Gifts

You can support CNT with a gift of appreciated stocks. Transfer them to CNT through your broker, avoid capital gains tax and deduct the charitable gift.

Memorial or Honorary Gift

You can make a donation in memory of a loved one or to honor someone special in your life. When you make a tribute or memorial gift, CNT sends a thank you to the special person or family member in recognition of your gift.

Looking for the perfect holiday gift for friends or family? Consider making a gift to CNT in their honor. You can support our innovative programs while honoring your relatives and friends at the same time.

Employer Matching Gifts

Don’t forget to ask your employer about whether it has a matching gift program. This could double or triple your gift to CNT!

Workplace Giving

earth share logo

CNT is a member of Earth Share of Illinois, a non-profit that manages workplace giving for more than sixty environmental and conservation charities. CNT participates in several charity campaigns, including the Combined Federal Campaigns (CFC# 28111), State & University Employee Combined Appeal (SECA #909-0080), various municipal campaigns (including City of Chicago, Chicago Public Schools, Chicago Transit Authority which are part of the Combined Charities Campaign (CCC #909-0080)) and other private sector campaigns.

By contributing to CNT through Earth Share of Illinois, you may pledge a specified amount from each paycheck to be automatically deducted. Your donation will have an immediate impact in helping us to build more livable and sustainable urban communities.

For more information about Earth Share of Illinois, including how your employer can host its own campaign, visit Earth Share or email Nicole Gotthelf at CNT.

A Gift for the Future

You can invest in strategies that build more sustainable communities by including CNT in your will. This is an easy way to leave a gift that will benefit the urban environment.

If you have questions about CNT’s giving opportunities, please email Nicole Gotthelf or call 773.269.4029.

donate now

The Center for Neighborhood Technology is a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. All gifts to CNT are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law.





Who is CNT?

CNT is a creative think-and-do tank that combines rigorous research with effective solutions. CNT works across disciplines and issues, including transportation and community development, energy, natural resources, and climate change.


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In 2009, CNT has been able to research, measure, implement and invent new approaches to urban challenges. We have developed innovative tools that help individuals to make better choices and communities to make better plans.  This year, CNT…

CLIMATE

Participated
in a public announcement of President Barack Obama’s national high-speed rail (HSR) master plan that cited CNT’s research on high-speed rail and greenhouse gas emissions.

Advocated
in support of the proposed “Green Resources for Energy Efficient Neighborhoods (G.R.E.E.N)” Act and recommended that key language on expanding the definition of “efficiency” to include “location efficiency” be incorporated in the federal climate bill.

Advised
successfully to the Climate Registry that the Local Government Operations Greenhouse Gas Reporting Protocol be the rulebook for reporting local government emissions in North America.

ENERGY

Audited
8,250 units in 260 multifamily buildings through the Energy Savers program.

Conducted
energy and climate inventories for 40 of the 283 municipalities in the 7- county Chicagoland region, through the Municipal Energy Profile Program, with plans to complete profiles for all 283.

Partnered…
with the U.S. Green Building Council – Chicago Chapter and performed the data collection and analysis for a year-one report of the post-occupancy performance of 25 LEED buildings in Illinois.

Co-authored…
“Chicago’s Guide to Completing an Energy Efficiency & Conservation Strategy”, to help cities and counties to plan for long-term and sustainable energy efficiency and conservation and maximize opportunities provided by the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) program.

Released
Illinois Smart Grid Initiative’s “Empowering Consumers through a Modern Electric Grid”.

NATURAL RESOURCES

Launched
the Super Barrel revolution: 5 installed, including 2 affordable multifamily housing sites, 2 market-rate multifamily buildings, and CNT’s own.

Launched
the Green Affordable Housing Initiative with a dozen rain gardens, bioswales, green walls, and superbarrels at multifamily affordable housing units in Oak Park and Chicago’s West Side, in partnership with Oak Park Residence Corp., Mercy Lakefront Housing, and Home Depot Foundation.

Replaced…
about 2,300 square feet of pavement with native plants and permeable surfaces to reduce runoff and create habitat at schools and a multifamily affordable housing courtyard that hosts a youth center.

Fulfilled…
our objective to give regional impact to Chicago’s pioneering efforts in sustainable street design by organizing “Sustainable Streets for Chicagoland” workshop to an overflow crowd of 100, exploring how to convert streets from part of the problem to part of the solution by incorporating sustainable stormwater, material, lighting and other approaches.

Improved
the nation’s premier GI evaluation tool with a dozen green infrastructure stormwater practices and the ability to assess whether selected GI measures meet a variety of policy standards that are in force in various parts of the country.

Educated…
thousands of municipal officials, engineers, architects, designers and others in the effectiveness and benefits of GI via workshop presentations, webinars and publications (including Chicago, Baltimore, Louisville, Kansas City, San Antonio, West Virginia, Washington, D.C., Toledo, Cleveland, Buffalo, and Toronto.

Advocated
for Illinois legislation requiring a study of potential state standards for applying Green Infrastructure in urban areas, which will recommend potential actions to the 2010 legislature, and worked with Illinois EPA to include GI training requirements in the state permit for small communities under the Clean Water Act’s National Pollution Discharge Elimination System.

Contributed
research to congressional debate leading to the 20% green reserve set-aside within the ARRA stimulus for water infrastructure.

TRANSPORTATION & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

Helped…
secure $2.22 Million in new investment toward brownfields remediation for Chicago’s south suburbs, including Dixmoor, Blue Island, and Harvey.

Released
“Making Smart Choices”, a report on existing conditions and opportunities for TOD at 33 stations along 4 commuter lines.

Upgraded…
our Housing + Transportation (H+T) Affordability Index website to include greenhouse gas emissions maps of carbon dioxide stemming from household vehicle travel in 55 metropolitan areas across the U.S.

Provided…
input to the federal administration transition and co-authored “Re-tooling HUD”, which resulted in a solid agenda for a new interagency partnership on sustainable communities between Housing & Urban Development (HUD), U.S. Department of Transportation, and U.S. EPA, a proposed new Office of Sustainable Communities and Housing, and initial budget appropriations to support these efforts.

Applied…
the results of our H+T Affordability Index to communities throughout the Chicago area to allow them to more fully understand and promote their affordability and advocate for location efficient projects like transit-oriented and cargo-oriented development.

Released…
with the Urban Land Institute’s (ULI) Terwilliger Center for Workforce Housing and CHP, “A Heavy Burden”, which finds that housing located far from transit and employment centers places a heavy financial strain on working families in the Washington, DC metropolitan region.

Testified…
at several congressional meetings regarding the adoption on urban sustainable policies.

Partnered
with the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) to create the nation’s first joint smart card between a public transit agency and car-sharing service. The Chicago Card Plus/I-GO Card enables its dual-account holders to access CTA trains and buses, Pace buses, and every car in I-GO’s metro-wide fleet—most of which are near or adjacent to CTA routes or rail stations.

Spread…
the wide-ranging benefits of car sharing across the metro area by expanding to the Chicagoland suburbs.

Introduced…
two plug-in hybrid electric vehicles to Downtown Chicago and the South Loop.

GENERAL

Recognized…
as one of only eight organizations from around the world to receive the prestigious John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Award for Creative and Effective Institutions.

Past years:

2008
2007
2006
2005

read more »

Publications

Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Chicago: Emissions Inventories and Reduction Strategies for Chicago and its Metropolitan Region

By CNT: Jennifer McGraw, Peter Haas, Linda Young, and Anne Evens. February 28, 2010. (.pdf, 185.7kb)

Redefining Affordability

By Scott Bernstein, CNT. January 27, 2010. (.pdf, 140.7kb)