Going "Green" a slow process

"Green" may be the buzzword for new projects, but the level of environmental friendliness to which builders and communities are willing to go is still open to suggestion.

Some Grayslake residents, for example, want a new shopping center proposed for the Lake County Fairgrounds site at routes 120 and 45 to meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards.

Those are voluntary designations determined by the U.S. Green Building Council, a coalition of companies, builders and federal and local agencies.

But for a second time in the last few months, those banking major proposals in Lake County have rejected the LEED certification as a necessity for being environmentally friendly.

In February, the Lake County Board by a 16-6 vote rejected spending more than $600,000 for architectural and construction work to achieve LEED certification for its proposed central permitting facility in Libertyville.

"In the end, people just realized the certificate wasn't necessary in order to tout a green building and green technology," said Brent Paxton, a board member from Zion, at the time.

In Grayslake, both the village board and the developer of the proposed center share that assessment. The village board has given preliminary approval to an 807,000-square-foot shopping center and will consider a final vote in the next few weeks.

The design has changed considerably since developers began meeting with village staff in what Bob Elias, representing Developers Diversified Realty Corp., described as "a tough but cooperative effort."

He said the design incorporates environmental elements such as bio swales and rain gardens for storm water control, which aren't required by village ordinances.

"We're looking for opportunities for green concepts," he told the village board.

Those ideas likely will stop short of LEED certification, however.

"It doesn't add the value, and that's the objection," he said.

The certification isn't required by village ordinance but there are a "series of items already in our code that are included in LEEDS certification," said Kirk Smith, the village's zoning officer.

Trustee Jeff Werfel asked whether having the designation would be a draw in itself.

"We've got a lot of people that feel there is a big advantage to green marketing in the marketplace," he said. "This is your business. How do you feel about it?"

"We could spend a couple of hours talking about that," Elias replied. "We're for the items that make economic sense and help the environment, but sometimes there are people that promote things that are in their best interest."

Mike Sands, an environmental team leader for Grayslake's Prairie Crossing conservation community, urged the board to press developers to make the center as green as possible.

Existing regulations, for example, deal with the quantity of storm water that is controlled, but not the quality of the runoff. He was uncertain at this point how environmentally conscious the shopping center plans are.

"It's really hard to tell at this stage until you see final engineering," he said Friday.

"The conceptual plan to date will certainly allow for some innovative stuff."