Chicago Department of Transportation

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Chicago Department of Transportation Infrastructur
e for Great Cities
Janet L. Attarian, AIA Project Director
Streetscape and Sustainable Design Program
Chicago Department of Transportation
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Climate Change and Infrastructure

• Hotter summers
• More heat waves
• More humidity
• More heavy rain storms and dry periods
• More extreme weather events
• Invasive pests and species
• Changes in agricultural growing conditions
• Negative air quality impacts

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Is Water the New Oil?
20 of the Earths fresh water is deposited in
the Great Lakes
90 of the United States fresh water is
deposited in the Great Lakes
1,000,000 (Billion) gallons of Lake water per day
are consumed by Chicagoans

Source Urban Lab
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(No Transcript)
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Urban Heat IslandElevated Surface Temperature
and Tree Canopy Cover
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Light Pollution
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Air Quality
Source CNT.org
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The urban form, with its density, public transit
and walkable neighborhoods, is a sustainable way
for humans to live. Its enhancement and
maintenance for the safety and convenience of all
users, is fundamental to creating a world where
all humans can anticipate a good quality of life
without depleting the worlds natural resources.
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Sustainable Urban Design

• City governments are at the forefront of
  sustainable design, and have an obligation to
  make cities livable places where people want to
  live, work and play.

• Chicago Land Area 144,593 ac
• Public Right-of-Way (23)

• In addition, there are 839 acres of public park
  space and 53.4 miles of lake and river frontage.

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What Makes A Great City
Streets and their sidewalks, the main public
places of a city, are its most vital organs.
Think of a city and what comes to mind? Its
streets. If a citys streets look interesting,
the city looks interesting if they look dull,
the city looks dull. Jane Jacobs
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Establishing a Process for Sustainable
Infrastructure
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Green Alley Program

• 1,900 miles of public alleyways in Chicago,
  the largest of any city in the world.
• Total of 3,500 acres of impermeable surface,
  the equivalent area of over 5 Midway Airports.

Alley Summary

• Total 13,000 Alleys
• 20 Currently Unimproved
• 20 in Need of Repairs

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Green Alley Program
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Chicago Innovation Green Alley Program

• Development of Permeable Asphalt and Concrete
• Best Practices
• Material Testing
• Trial Batches

• The Ground Tire Rubber Solution
• Approx 600 tires recycled per alley
• Solved cohesion problem

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Chicago Innovation Green Alley Program

• Six pilot locations, and over forty planned
  locations citywide
• Program includes use of recycled materials,
  high-albedo pavements, and dark-sky lighting.
• Improves stormwater management and energy use
  through infrastructure improvements

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Education

• Critical at Every Step of the Process
• Research
• Tailor Message to Stakeholders
• Educate to the larger picture, on common issues.

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Wider Implementation
Permeable Parkways
Recycled Asphalt with GTR
Permeable Ward Yard
Green Street Construction
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Sustainable Streets The Cermak / Blue Island
Streetscape
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Cermak/Blue Island Sustainable Streetscape
Stormwater Management Water Efficiency Transport
ation Energy Efficiency Recycling Urban
Heat Island Education
Divert 100 of two year storm event from
city storm system through the use of pervious
pavements, bioswales and recharge of Chicago
River
Limit or eliminate use of potable water sources
for irrigation, Specify Native or
Climate-adapted, drought tolerant plants for all
plantings
Improve bus stops with signage,
shelters where possible, and lighting facilitate
use of bikes with lanes along Blue Island, and
strategically located bike racks. Significant
upgrades to sidewalks for pedestrian mobility and
ADA accessibility.
Project Sustainable Goals
Meet an energy reduction baseline below the
streetscape baseline select optimal street
lights for energy efficiency use reflective
surface on sidewalks/roadways to improve
lighting use renewable energy on designated
fixture use white light throughout the
streetscape.
Divert 90 of Construction Waste from
Landfills, Specify new materials with a minimum
20 Recycled Content. Attain 40 of all material
from sources within 500 mile radius of the
project site.
Reduce ambient summer temperatures on streets
and sidewalks through use of reflective pavements
on roadways, light colored materials on sidewalks
and use of trees for shading
Provide public outreach materials/self-guided
tour brochure to highlight innovative,
sustainable design features of streetscape
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Cermak/Blue Island Sustainable Streetscape
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Cermak/Blue Island Sustainable Streetscape
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Cermak/Blue Island Sustainable Streetscape
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Juarez High School Water Feature
HERBERT DREISEITL
HERBERT DREISEITL
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Monitoring

• Making the case for sustainable design
• Determining actual maintenance needs
• Continuous learning and improvement
• Critical link for turning pilots to programs

Maxwell Street Market Permeable Plaza
Partnership with EPA to measure suitability of
stormwater BMPs on brownfield sites. Green
Alleys Permeability, Albedo, Surface
Temperature, Strength Sustainable Streetscape
Monitoring Partnership with MWRD
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New Markets Creating Innovation for the
Environment

• Lead by Example
• Partner with the Private Sector
• Connect to the Community

..green is not about cutting back. Its about
creating a new cornucopia of abundance for the
next generation by inventing a whole new
industry. Its about getting our best brains out
of hedge funds and into innovations that will not
only give us the clean-power industrial assets to
preserve our American dream but also give us the
technologies that billions of others need to
realize their own dreams without destroying the
planet. Thomas L. Friedman, The New York Times
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Criteria for Chicagos Public Right of Way
Using research data to establish a Chicago
Standard for sustainable infrastructure in the
public right of way.
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Rating Systems for Sustainable Infrastructure

• LEED ND as a starting place
• Sustainable Site Initiative
• Green Streets LEED for Roads
• Unique needs and potential of Infrastructure

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Ending Business as Usual Responsibility for the
Biosphere
Janet L. Attarian, AIA Project Director
Jattarian_at_cityofchicago.org Streetscape and
Sustainable Design Program 312-744-5900