Martin Wahl
The Obama Presidential Center in the South Side of Chicago will conform to LEED Platinum building efficiency standards, ILFI Zero Energy Certification, and SITES environmental standards for outdoor spaces and landscaping. Located at the end of Chicago’s Midway, encompassing over 19 acres of Jackson Park, much of it on the grounds of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, groundbreaking for the Center took place in September 2021, and the Center’s Museum Tower is currently being clad in New Hampshire “Kitledge Tapestry” granite.
The evolving design of the Center now includes:
- The presidential library
- The museum, with educational and meeting spaces
- A forum building with an auditorium, a restaurant, and a public garden
- The Home Court, a 45,000 square foot community center with a gymnasium and practice courts.
The partially submerged Home Court Athletic Center and the parking structure will have green roofs.
So, what are these certifications?
LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) provides a framework for healthy, highly efficient, and cost-saving green buildings – it is a rating system with separate scorecards for different building types. Achieving a certain number of points results in a rating:
- Certified: 40–49 points
- Silver: 50–59 points
- Gold: 60–79 points
- Platinum: 80 points and above
Following a scorecard becomes tricky, so some third party software helps plan and track a project’s certification.
The system is not without criticism, including “LEED brain” where developers design and build to maximize points, irrespective of concerns specific to a building, called a form of greenwashing, not unlike “teaching to the test.”
First launched in 2000, LEED is now at version 4.1, with version 5 expected in 2025. The Obama Center is designing to meet the latest version standard.
ILFI (International Living Future Institute) Zero Energy Certification™ is a standard developed by ILFI that recognizes the highest levels of energy performance that built projects can achieve.
The requirement is that 100% of the building’s energy needs on a net annual basis must be supplied by on-site renewable energy; no combustion is allowed. Thermal energy as well as electrical is included in the program.
Two audits are conducted to ascertain whether a building meets the requirement, the first upon construction and the second after 12 months of operation to ensure all energy needs are actually being met by energy generated on site.
SITES (Sustainable SITES Initiative) can be considered a LEED program for landscaping. Based also on a scorecard system with up to 200 points, the program evaluates projects on ten dimensions, from site design through materials selection and the site’s context (e.g., is it on a brownfield or a floodplain), to water use and management criteria. Rankings dependent on points achieved are also classified as Certified, Silver, Gold or Platinum. The program was developed by the American Society of Landscape Architects, The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at The University of Texas at Austin, and the United States Botanic Garden.
According to their website, the SITES rating system guides, evaluates, and certifies sustainability and resilience in the design, development, and management of landscapes and other outdoor spaces. SITES projects prioritize biodiversity and mitigate climate change while conserving resources, improving public health, and providing economic benefits.
By protecting, restoring, and generating ecosystem services, SITES promotes climate regulation, protects air and water quality, controls flooding, improves resilience, mitigates risks from potential hazards, enhances biodiversity, conserves resources, and reduces waste. SITES provides additional benefits for human health and well-being, community development, and local economic stimulation. A wide range of projects can use SITES to elevate the value of their landscapes, ultimately benefiting the environment, property owners and communities. SITES Director Danielle Piranunzi defines ecosystem services as “… goods and services of direct or indirect benefit to humans that are produced by ecosystem processes in nature.”
Both LEED and SITES are owned and administered by Green Business Certification, Inc. (GBCI) and there are registration and certification fees to cover the management and review time and expenses.
ILFI also charges fees for certification. Their services are shown here to illustrate what is required to manage a project’s certification:
- A dedicated project coach
- Three project status calls scheduled during the design and construction phases of the project
- Access to request clarifications and exceptions to certification requirements
- Invitation to project team summits and calls
- Third-party Ready Audit upon completion of construction
- Third-party Final Audit upon completion of 12-month performance period
- Recognition as a Registered, Ready, or Certified project
What Else the Obama Center Is Up To
The Obama Center offers scholarships and leadership training programs funded in partnerships with a variety of foundations. The programs range from individual scholarships to leadership training programs in the U.S. and internationally, including:
- My Brother’s Keeper Alliance
- Girls Opportunity Alliance
- Leaders Program
- Scholars Program
- Voyager Scholarship
- Futures Series
- Obama Youth Jobs Corps
After a career in data product management, Martin Wahl has worked in biofuels since 2006, currently with Lee Enterprises Consulting, a large bio-economy consulting group. Dividing his time between California and New Hampshire, he serves on Corte Madera, California’s Climate Action Committee and is a Newfound Lake Region Association member.
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