Chicago, Illinois

This facility features the following green attributes:
Green Power
ENERGY STAR

Region 5 Office

Total Facility Area: 418,569 rentable square feet (EPA share)
Estimated Personnel: 1,558 EPA personnel
Energy Consumption: 30, 856,004,457 Btu per year (EPA share)
Btu per Rentable Square Foot per Year: 73,718
Water Consumption: not available

All energy and water data are reported as of FY 2004.

Description

EPA's Region 5 Headquarters is located in the Metcalfe Federal Building in Chicago, Illinois, and oversees EPA operations in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin, and 35 Tribal Nations. The Agency has implemented a number of programs and procedures to minimize its environmental impact.

Unique Environmental Features

Energy Conservation

With the installation of a comprehensive green lighting system, the Metcalfe Federal Building was awarded the ENERGY STAR^® label in 1999 for its continued efforts to increase energy efficiency. In 2007, the Metcalfe Building received the ENERGY STAR label again with a performance rating of 80 out of 100, an improvement over the rating of 77 received by the facility in 1999.

Green Power

In June 2006, EPA worked with the Defense Energy Support Center to procure a green power contract with 3 Phases Energy Services for 110 million kilowatt hours (kWh) in renewable energy certificates (RECs), or “green tags.” With deliveries beginning September 1, 2006, this blanket purchase offsets 100 percent of annual electricity use at the Region 5 Office and several other facilities through FY 2007 by supporting wind power generation in California, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Wyoming.
In August 2005, EPA entered into a one-year contract with Basin Electric Power Company (procured by the Defense Energy Support Center) to purchase 9 million kWh of green power annually for its Region 5 Office in the form of RECs. This contract supports the generation of renewable energy from wind farms in South Dakota and North Dakota, and will offset 100 percent of EPA's electricity consumption in the Region 5 Office.
In October 2000, a solar array was installed on the roof of the Metcalfe Federal Building. EPA helped install this 10-kilowatt photovoltaic system at the Region 5 Headquarters facility in an effort to demonstrate self-generated renewable energy systems and educate the public on emerging technologies.

Waste Reduction and Recycling

In 2002, EPA initiated a closed-loop paper recycling program for GSA's multi-tenant Metcalfe Federal Building. EPA and the U.S. General Services Administration have worked to increase the building's recycling rate by 200 percent, keeping a majority of paper products out of the waste stream. Known as "Anything-That-Rips," this system allows EPA to recycle its paper and have it manufactured into recycled tissue and towels to be used at Region 5 facilities.

For More Information

Hedrick E. Partee (partee.hedrick@epa.gov)
536 South Clark Street
Chicago, IL 60605
Phone: (312) 353-4190

Web site: www.epa.gov/region5