First LEED-CS Building in Illinois Nears Completion

One South Dearborn, a 40-story, 820,000-sf office tower currently being built in downtown Chicago, is the first LEED core and shell (CS) project in the Land of Lincoln to be pre-certified by the U.S. Green Building Council. Designed by DeStefano + Keating of Chicago, the building is being constructed by Dallas-based Turner Construction and developed by the Chicago office of Hines. Halvorson Kaye Structural Engineering of Chicago is the project engineer.

One South Dearborn is scheduled to be completed by January 2007. Its green features include 15 40-foot-tall sugar maple trees that will be irrigated with condensation collected from the building's mechanical systems, and special HVAC filters that use UV light to breakdown dirt, dust, bacteria, and other pollutants. The structure also features a crown composed of glass and metal that reaches 60 feet above the tower with lighted glass spires.