Chicago Building Codes Undergo Reconstruction

Revisions to the City of Chicago Building Codes have recently become effective - an important issue in light of the October fire at the Cook County administration building.

Although the code was scheduled to go into effect in October, the old code will not be repealed until July 28, 2004. During the interim, architects, engineers and contractors can choose to use either the old or new code at the start of the project, but not parts of one code and parts of the other.

Since code revisions began under the Building Code Initiative in 1997, the existing electrical, elevator, energy conservation, plumbing and mechanical codes have been reviewed and amended by volunteer committees.

Chicago Urbanism Award Goes to Harvard Student

The Chicago-based Skidmore, Owings & Merrill Foundation has announced Kiel Moe, a graduate student at Harvard University, is the winner of the 2003 Chicago Institute for Architecture and Urbanism Award.

The program, which provides $5,000 in prize money, honors the best unpublished essay or research paper on the question of how to redirect the physical development of American cities and their regions toward sustainability. Papers are nominated by accredited U.S. graduate programs in architecture, urban design, or physical planning, and must be written by faculty or students in these fields.

Moe's paper was entitled, "The Qualities of Life in a City." Juror Rocco Yim, director of Rocco Design in Hong Kong, commented, "This is a scholarly written essay that provides an insightful observation on the patterns and physical development of the sustainable metropolis as a system of 'organized complexity' that is four-dimensional."

The award was endowed by funds from the institute and was established by the SOM Foundation to encourage writing and research on the question of how architecture, urban design and physical planning can contribute to improving the quality of life in American cities.

Tollway Web site Data Honored For Quality

The Illinois Tollway's sharing of information, such as construction status, on the Gary-Chicago-Milwaukee Web site, www.gcmtravel.com, was recently recognized with an honor from the U.S Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration.

The regional travel Web site, which also features information from the Departments of Transportation in Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana, was named one of the top traffic information Web sites in the nation.

The FHWA recognized four travel information Web sites - three outside the Midwest - that provide easy access to current information about safety and mobility on the highways. Selections were made following a national review of 276 travel information Web sites, covering both content and usability of the sites.

Content evaluation was based on whether the sites provided information on current conditions such as construction, incidents, HOV lanes and tolls.

Wind Power Blows Into Chicago

A power-generating windmill was recently installed and at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.

The lone windmill is part of a two-year test project to determine whether energy produced from small-scale windmills can be competitive with utility-generated power.
The 45-ft.-high prototype is able to generate approximately 50 amps of power, which is fed directly into the museum's energy supply.

Due to its low cost and high availability, wind energy has emerged as the fastest-growing renewable energy source over the last decade. Wind is expected to generate at least 5 percent of the nation's total energy usage by 2020.

Lake Forest Top Out Marks Milestone

A topping out ceremony was recently held at Lake Forest College for the Donnelley and Lee Library, an $18 million expansion and renovation project. The facility is scheduled to open in the fall of 2004.

Participants signed a steel beam, which will later be raised, along with the ceremonial evergreen tree and flag, to the highest point on the structure. Lake Bluff residents Barbara and Laurence Lee, for whom the library is named, were presented with a model of the facility. The Lees provided the largest private donation to the project.
Laurence Lee is a trustee of the College and retired vice president and general counsel of Abbott Laboratories.

The facility was designed by Boston-based Shepley Bulfinch Richardson and Abbott, and Turner Construction Co. in Chicago is managing the project.