Chicago Condo Directory

Congratulations are in order for eco18, a Dynaprop Development Corp. property designed by Wight & Co., that has 98 units up on sale. They are the first building to meet the ecologically prestigious “Tier Three” status as defined by Chicago’s Green Permit Program.

The standards for “Tier Three” are very high and go well above the minimum requirements set by the U.S. Green Building Council. The eco18 project’s designers have worked hard to make every last detail of the project eco-friendly, even during construction. Water use, waste carting, shipping building supplies, and even geothermal cooling and heating have been employed to make just building the complex have a minimal environmental impact.

While other projects try to skate by at the minimum, eco18’s team has gone above and beyond to strive for the highest levels of eco-friendly certification, and are being duly rewarded. With the highest Tier Three level, the permit process is streamlined quite a bit, and the permit consultation review fees which run about $50,000 for something of eco18’s size has been completely waived. Nearly 134 green permits have been issued so far by Chicago’s Department of Construction and Permits, but so far eco18 is the only one to achieve the feat of complying to the highest tier of compliance.

Possibly the coolest feature of the project for sustainable energy is the solar-thermal collector array on the top of the 12-story roof. It will heat water and be specially tuned to produce up to half of the water heating load the residents demand. Overlapping that is a looping geothermal ground piping that will satisfy roughly 75 percent of the water heating needs.

You can find out more about other interesting and niche new condos in Chicago on our comprehensive Chicago condo directory.

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