Chicago’s Archdiocese Announces New Energy Reduction Plan
Chicago is home to towering Cathedrals, visible from miles away when unobstructed, and while the city is known for these majestic testaments to God, they use a tremendous amount of energy to maintain functionality. Luckily that's about to change as Archbishop Blase J. Cupich announced that the 2,700 building which falls under the auspices of the Catholic Church will begin a massive energy reduction retrofit.
Many of the buildings, which include public housing, will be audited and given a list of upgrades to reduce their overall energy consumption, diminishing their carbon footprint and saving money for the church. Accounting for more than 50,000 square feet, church buildings which stretch all the way to Cook and Lake counties, are part of a growing trend in Chicago to begin monitoring building emissions much in the same way we monitor car emissions.
Great work Chicago!
Chicago archdiocese emerging as leader on energy efficiency
Kari Lydersen | Midwest Energy News
The Archdiocese of Chicago’s historic churches and Catholic schools are part of the social, religious and economic fabric of the city. But the soaring cathedrals and stolid aging buildings can also be energy hogs.
Last summer, the city’s Archbishop Blase J. Cupich announced an ambitious goal of measuring the energy use in the archdiocese’s 2,700 buildings in Chicago and surrounding Cook and Lake counties.
As a result, the archdiocese has been among the star performers in Chicago’s energy benchmarking program, an initiative launched in 2013 that marked notable progress in 2015, as noted in a recent annual report.
The Chicago Housing Authority, Swedish Covenant Hospital and downtown commercial buildings also logged high marks for complying with the city’s benchmarking ordinance, which mandates all commercial and institutional buildings over 250,000 square feet and residential buildings over 50,000 square feet complete benchmarking by the end of 2015. Residential buildings over 50,000 square feet must comply next year, with updated reports due every three years.