Chicago is wasting no time in keeping up with the Joneses when it comes to greenhouse gas reduction, energy efficiency, and renewable energy. On a national level, with the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, incentives for renewables will soon be the law of the land.
In Chicago, Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker recently announced a $422 million deal to power O’Hare International Airport, the Harold Washington Library (the main branch of the Chicago Public Library system), and more than 400 other buildings with solar power.
The deal is to build a new solar farm called Double Black Diamond Solar which will break ground this fall and provide more than 300 MW of solar electricity to those Chicago buildings, according to WTTW. The deal is part of Chicago’s Climate Action Plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 62 percent by 2040 and use 100 percent renewable energy in the city by 2035. The state of Illinois has a plan to use 100 percent renewable energy by 2045.
Greg Zimmerman is senior contributing editor for FacilitiesNet.com and Building Operating Management magazine.
