A new book hitting stores this month spotlights entrepreneurial sustainable farmers in the Midwest and the Chicago chefs who use their ingredients.

An exhibit of six green buildings designed by students at the Illinois Institute of Technology opened this month at the Chicago Architecture Foundation.

The six designs were superimposed on a massive white model city of Chicago already on display in the CAF’s atrium in the Santa Fe building on Michigan Avenue. The IIT contribution is part of a larger project of imagined designs from four Chicago-area academic institutions that was unveiled last Thursday, called “Unseen City: Designs for a Future Chicago.”

Tall buildings have the potential of offering greater energy efficiencies than low-rise buildings, in part because of their density. But designers can create structures that also meet environmental, physical and cultural challenges of the current century, says Gail Borthwick, a senior architect at Adrian Smith & Gordon Gill Architecture, and one of the advisers of the IIT project. Incorporating those other elements and imagining highly sustainable buildings was the challenge presented in a studio format to a group of 12 IIT students, who worked with Ms. Borthwick, and other mentors including professionals from the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.

The students worked in pairs and developed six proposals for tall buildings in downtown Chicago that address central issues for construction of a more livable city. Some examples they came up with included the shuttered U.S. Post Office building reinvented as a “post waste” recycling center. Another design is called CO2ngress Gateway Towers, located at the Congress Parkway interchange. That structure has a connecting bridge between the two towers that’s equipped with carbon scrubbers to absorb carbon dioxide emitted from the thousands of cars driving underneath into the Loop each day. The captured carbon dioxide is fed to algae grown inside the building and is then processed into biofuel for residents in the building to power their eco-friendly cars.

The initial concepts for some of the designs originated from a pro bono project ASGG undertook when city officials asked the firm to imagine a vast overhaul of Chicago’s downtown area that could drastically reduce its carbon footprint, explained Ms. Borthwick, its project leader. That two-year effort between 2009 and 2011, called The Chicago Loop DeCarbonization Plan, was intended to help meet some of the goals outlined in the Chicago Climate Action Plan of 2008. The firm also published a book about that project.

Crain’s met Ms. Borthwick at last week’s opening to learn more about the exhibit and whether these buildings might ever rise up in Chicago’s built environment.

Crain’s: How do these student projects collectively address the question of how buildings can solve modern environmental problems that exist in Chicago’s downtown area?

Gail Borthwick

Ms. Borthwick: Each student was asked to investigate the immediate physical, economic and social context of their chosen site and incorporate their response into their design. Each pair of students chose a specific environmental issue to address: water quality, education, air quality, food supply, waste, density. These all tie back to reducing carbon emissions and using less energy.

Crain’s: How did you and others serve as mentors for these students?

Ms. Borthwick: The students had one-on-one access to our team from CTBUH and ASGG three days a week. We also brought in specialists to consider urban issues, engineering and structural systems and environmental strategies. We’d go through their ideas, which gave them a chance to formulate their story and refine it as they went along.

Crain’s: What’s the likelihood of these designs ever seeing the light of day? Or was the intention for them to be thought-provoking so other architects might incorporate these concepts into future sustainable building designs?

Ms. Borthwick: While the sites are existing sites and the projects quite feasible, the intention is really to encourage architects to pay attention to elements of design beyond just aesthetics – to show that consideration of density, urban issues and environment can be intertwined into the design to make a stronger, more successful architectural project.

This is the direction our profession needs to go. In tough economic times, architecture needs to evolve to consider not only the aesthetics of a building but also its economic and sustainable viability. If you take a project to a developer and show all these elements, there’s a much better chance the project will be built.

Crain’s: Are any of these student designs economically feasible?

Ms. Borthwick: Some of the teams considered the financial feasibility in depth. Others were more considerate of the needs of living in the downtown core. As always, the projects need support of the city — tax breaks, financing, code zoning — and in most cases, an interested developer.

Crain’s: Does Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s agenda for promoting public/private partnerships to encourage green building solutions in Chicago create any opportunities for these proposals or other ideas in your firm’s decarbonization plan?

Ms. Borthwick: Certainly the mayor’s infrastructure trust program can be investigated to move forward many strategies in the DeCarb Plan – not just new and existing buildings but particularly mobility and infrastructure strategies. We’re continuing to work with the mayor’s office to identify buildings that want to do deep retrofits. The city announced a short list earlier this month of 14 buildings in the Loop and just north of there that signed on to the mayor’s energy efficiency initiatives.

In fact, there’s a symposium this week (Thursday) at Willis Tower where building owners and property managers will share success stories of energy efficiency retrofits, including someone from the Merchandise Mart.

Greening your business or urban lifestyle and rocking out to live bands at an outdoor festival don’t have to be mutually exclusive in Chicago.

The fourth annual Green Music Fest in Wicker Park and Bucktown this weekend is combining a two-day summertime street concert with demonstrations of ways individuals and companies can make their everyday lives and business operations more green.

The event’s producers are aiming to make the festival eco-friendly and challenging other Chicago fest organizers to do the same, says Robert Gomez, one of Green Music Fest’s organizers who was among the group that conceived the event four years ago. Mr. Gomez owns two Chicago live music venues, Subterranean and the Beat Kitchen, and is involved in organizing other summer concerts too.

Aside from the lineup of local and national bands on two stages (Dinosaur Jr. and Hey Rosetta! among others), there will be a Green Village, where local green businesses and nonprofits will demonstrate ways individuals can change their lifestyles and other business owners can alter their practices to be more mindful of the planet. Some of the activities will focus on renewable energy, recycling, worm composting, urban gardening and bicycling.

Local small-business vendors will be on hand as well to sell their wares to concertgoers. Some include: Greenheart Shop, Chicago Specialty Gardens, Coco Loco Jewelry, GiGi Handmade, Community Energy and Global Elements. Food vendors at the festival will use compostable plates and utensils, and they aren’t allowed to sell items in plastic bottles or plastic foam containers.

To minimize the environmental impact of the event, Chicago-based Bright Beat, a project management and sustainability consulting firm, is overseeing the waste diversion program with eco-stations to recycle and compost everything that’s consumed at the fest. Other sustainable features at the concert include biodiesel generators and LED lighting for efficient energy use, and a free bike parking area.

The two-day festival kicks off at noon Saturday on Damen Avenue between North and Schiller avenues. Crain’s met with Mr. Gomez earlier this week to learn more about the festival planners’ greening goals.

Robert Gomez

Crain’s: Have you seen much growth over the last four years among green businesses that want to be part of this event?

Mr. Gomez: There’s enormous interest but it’s difficult for some to be part of the festival because of the economy. I thought I’d have 100 percent exclusive green vendors by the fourth year, but we’ve only got about a third of the space dedicated to them. It’s hard for small green vendors to commit their time and money to an event like this. Still, we’ll have a lot of great stuff for people to buy and learn about. We’ll also have the usual sunglasses and other festival things for sale.

About a dozen green companies will be on hand selling mostly lifestyle stuff (jewelry, fair trade gift items, composting kits). We’re excited to have a hybrid car on display from Fiat, and Fat Tire New Belgium Brewing Co. will have a booth informing people about how their entire brewing process is done sustainably. And GreenChoice Bank is one of our sponsors.

Crain’s: What’s the goal behind combining the two concepts of an outdoor concert and raising awareness about sustainability?

Mr. Gomez: My hope is that this festival and Wicker Park/Bucktown will be the leader in the city of encouraging green efforts among the small businesses here and people who attend. To put on a music festival, you can call it anything you want and people will come if you do a good job. When I proposed the idea of a green music fest four years ago, it obligated us to operate in a green way as much as possible. It’s more costly to put on an event this way than to ignore it.

For food vendors that participate, we have a high standard for their waste stream. This isn’t an organic food festival, but no plastic bottles are allowed and they can only use compostables and recycled paper products.

Crain’s: Do you think most concertgoers will care that the festival is green?

Mr. Gomez: A lot of people will come just to listen to music and drink the beer. But when they throw away that cup, someone will be there to make sure it goes into the proper container and tell them it’s being composted. They won’t be able to escape the green elements. We’re hoping to get 25,000 people depending on the weather.

Crain’s: Will it be a tough sell to encourage other local businesses to adopt more eco-friendly practices?

Mr. Gomez: In my own business at Subterranean, we converted to 80 percent recycling from 80 percent waste just two years ago. I made a commitment to make four containers for recycling and only one for waste. Ironically I’m saving money as a result too. If I can do that in a three-story business, other business owners around me can do it too. Maybe we can motivate others to see the economic advantages.

Crain’s: How are you trying to influence other Chicago festival producers to copy your greening tactics this weekend? What about local businesses?

Mr. Gomez: We’re figuring out a way to make this impossible for other festivals to refuse by doing it right. In time, this will be more economically feasible and attractive. With help from Bright Beat and others, we can educate other event producers that they can do this too. I anticipate that eventually every event in the city of Chicago will be obligated to step up their greening efforts to mirror ours.

We’re also hoping to influence businesses in Wicker Park and Bucktown by raising their consciousness to do things in a green way. When there’s an event like this in your backyard, it’s hard to ignore the green aspects.

Wedding bells are ringing in June, and some Chicago couples are adding green elements to their celebrations with the help of a group that connects vendors to eco-conscious consumers.

The Chicago Green Wedding Alliance has nearly tripled in size in its two years as more small-business owners are offering sustainable features for couples planning weddings, commitment ceremonies and other life events that are mindful of their impact on the planet and their communities.

The alliance was formed to encourage more people to consider adding an eco-minded aspect to their weddings, according to Lynn Fosbender, one of the co-founders and owner of Pollen Floral Design, a floral design studio that specializes in green weddings and other gatherings. The other co-founders are Amanda Eich and Tony Vassallo, who own Spilled Ink Press, a firm that uses recycled paper and other sustainable materials in its invitations and other custom-printed paper goods.

An initial collection of a dozen local companies got the nonprofit off the ground in 2010. The community of vendors within the alliance has grown to more than 30 this year, including caterers that source organic and sustainable food from local farmers, such as FIG Catering and City Provisions, and green event spaces such as Catalyst Ranch and Greenhouse Loft.

Crain’s met Ms. Fosbender between flower runs this week to learn more about the alliance’s activities in growing this sector of the local green economy.

Lynn Fosbender

Crain’s: Why was there a need to form the Chicago Green Wedding Alliance?

Ms. Fosbender: I’m doing something a little unusual trying to work with locally grown and sustainably grown flowers. I found myself working with a lot of the same green vendors and getting good referrals and I thought we could form a community if we could get all these like-minded people together. As a group, we might be able to encourage more eco-friendly weddings and events and make it easier for those couples to find us.

Crain’s: What are some of the most popular ways for couples to add sustainability to their big day?

Ms. Fosbender: Many couples aren’t making their weddings fully sustainable, but they’re choosing the things that are most important to their values. To some people it’s the food, to others it’s decor or the venue.

It seems like working with locally and sustainably grown food has really gotten some traction and is becoming more achievable as more vendors and caterers are offering it.

In the Midwest people are becoming more aware of the environmental impact that cut flowers have in the production process, transportation and the way workers are treated. It’s less intuitive than sustainable food, but similar to the impact it has on the environment. I’m also going to start offering living centerpieces. I’ll be partnering with Greenhouse Loft to rent out succulents for some events.

Some ways to add sustainability aren’t even about services. One idea is to choose a venue that will accommodate the ceremony and the reception. That cuts down on transportation for guests and vendors, which shrinks the carbon footprint of the event. I even offer a discount to people who do that because my staff doesn’t have to travel to two venues.

Crain’s: Are there any particular services that are hot right now or just coming up on the radar for wedding planning?

Ms. Fosbender: There’s a move toward working with local artisans for paper items, such as invitations and programs. They’re working with recycled paper and vegetable-based inks.

One of the easier things that some couples do to have the biggest impact is to decrease the guest list. It decreases the amount of food that’s needed, and the size of the space. It’s an easy and cost-effective way to be more green.

Crain’s: What has the alliance done to generate more buzz around the green wedding concept?

Ms. Fosbender: One of our first events was a workshop for event planners to understand how to help clients plan more eco-friendly weddings. That really helped us get the word out. This past February, we had a show and our vendors had tables out to show their wares to event planners and couples.

Crain’s: There’s a lot of new vendors listed with the alliance. What’s your vetting process to make sure they’re truly “green”?

Ms. Fosbender: We have an application process with a series of questions that ask about the operations of the business and we have vendor-specific categories that get into more details of how sustainable they are. We rely on the one-on-one meetings to see that they are indeed acting the way they say they are. We’ve denied applications before and we’ll suggest ways to get them up to our standards. We also want people to be actively involved in the education and marketing component of the group to spread the word (about greening an event).

Crain’s: Do you think entrepreneurs will find a growing market for green weddings if they decide to focus their energy in this area?

Ms. Fosbender: I don’t think this is just a fad. With each generation, there’s a greater understanding that we need all the resources we have and we need to nurture them. Those values are being passed along and encouraged. I think this is here to stay.

A new coalition composed of a local clean tech group, airline corporations and a municipal agency aims to boost Midwest development of biofuels for commercial aviation.

The Midwest Aviation Sustainable Biofuels Initiative recently was formed to accelerate research, development and investment in technologies in the region that target renewable energy for commercial airplanes. Key partners include the Clean Energy Trust, the Chicago Department of Aviation, United Airlines, Boeing Co. and Honeywell’s UOP sustainable energy division.

The first order of business for the group is twofold: An appointed advisory panel will deliver a report on the activity that’s already under way in the Midwest. The panel also will develop an action plan of how to take those pockets of productivity to the next level by attracting more funding and advancing research projects into commercialized products, says Seth Snyder, section leader of process technology research and energy systems at Argonne National Laboratory. Mr. Snyder is one of the leaders of the advisory panel and a biofuel technology expert. Those reports are expected to be complete by early 2013.

A number of Midwest engineers and entrepreneurs have taken ideas from research institutions and rolled out startups that are working on some aspect of biofuel development. For many, the goal is to develop commercialized products that can be used as a sustainable replacement for traditional imported fuel sources or fashioned into a fuel blend similar to the way ethanol is used in cars, notes Mr. Snyder.

Crain’s met with Mr. Snyder to learn more about the potential opportunities for entrepreneurs in the region to pursue the biofuel sector.

Seth Snyder

Crain’s: Why is there such great interest in developing biofuel technologies?

Mr. Snyder: It’s all about economics and the environment. We know fuel cost has a big impact on the economy. We import billions of gallons of oil each year (for aviation) and we’re not in control of what happens in the global market. If we replace much of that domestically we will stabilize the supply and stabilize costs.

From an environmental standpoint, it’s about controlling greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Transportation isn’t responsible for all GHG emissions, but by replacing (petroleum-based fuel) with biofuels you can reduce emissions by 60 percent or more. GHG emissions are increasing temperatures, which is having an impact on our climate, agriculture, water levels, hurricane patterns, you name it.

Crain’s: Why is the Midwest being targeted as a good place for this type of sustainable biofuel initiative?

Mr. Snyder: We have the feedstock available here with so much agriculture. We have the engineering capability to take things from the lab and put them at a full commercial scale. These will be industrial processes, not just projects in the lab.

Crain’s: Can you give a few examples of the type of biofuel technology where some of the R&D and investment is occurring?

Mr. Snyder: There are two ends from an R&D perspective. There’s feedstocks, as in what are you going to grow. There’s a lot of research in the Midwest involved in corn stover, the residue left over when we produce corn. And there’s research in new crops for biofuel, including switchgrass. There’s one startup in Chicago called Chromatin that got a few rounds of VC funding. They’re working on a feedstock called sorghum, but also using it for commercial sales for other products.

The other half is the companies that are taking what’s grown and doing the chemical conversions or fermentations to turn it into a biofuel. One that’s well-known is Amyris (out of California). More locally, there’s LanzaTech in Roselle and Virent in Madison (Wis.), which is a spinoff from the University of Wisconsin and a partnership with Shell to make jet fuel (among other products). Lately there is more activity on the conversion side.

Crain’s: How would you characterize the level of activity among research institutions, entrepreneurs and investors in the Midwest in biofuel technology?

Mr. Snyder: There’s been very high interest in the last seven or eight years among research institutions and there was some angel investing and creation of spinoffs over the last four years. But I expect there will be a slowdown now because there were some recent IPOs and most of them are under water. That’s because their value was based on potential and a business plan, not on revenues. As soon as one goes under, investors get skittish and pull back on funding.

Crain’s: Despite those market setbacks, you sound optimistic about biofuels as part of a long-term diversification strategy for the airline industry. How soon do you expect they will be part of that portfolio of fuel options?

Mr. Snyder: Right now we have some individual one-off commercial flights using biofuels, and they’re using it as a blend (with traditional fuel) just like ethanol is used as a blend for car fuel. Some companies, like Honeywell’s UOP business unit, are starting to produce fuel that meets airline industry specs. Then it’s a question of cost, and from there it’s a matter of availability.

You need to have supply that can provide for more than three flights a year. It’s really a matter of getting costs down and putting a supply chain in place. Unless we have policies that push it away, I predict we’ll see a lot more biofuel blends over the next 10 to 20 years.

Family-owned Testa Produce is investing big in green technology in hopes of ensuring that its next century in business is just as successful as its first 100 years.

Peter Testa, the company’s president and third generation family member overseeing the produce distribution business started in 1912, convinced his brother and other family members to go along with his vision of adding renewable energy and water management systems into a new produce distribution center they built last year in the Back of the Yards neighborhood. The 91,000 square foot facility was constructed on a restored brownfield site that the wholesale produce distributor uses for receipt and delivery of the fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables, appetizers, and other local or organic sourced products it sells to the foodservice industry in Illinois and Wisconsin. Clients include hotels, restaurants, hospitals, corporate dining centers and schools.

The new plant is equipped with 180 photovoltaic solar panels (for electricity) and the first 238-foot freestanding wind turbine installed in Chicago. The turbine is expected to generate more than 30% of the facility’s energy needs, says Mr. Testa, 59. The entire plant, including refrigerated and frozen areas, has energy efficient LED lighting. The water management system consists of a retention pond that holds 800,000 gallons of water, bio swales, an internal rainwater-harvesting system and a 50,000 square-foot barreled green roof that slopes down in the front of the building for the “wow factor” when visitors and clients stop by, notes Mr. Testa. The combined water systems are designed to prevent stormwater runoff and reduce the facility’s water demand by more than 40%, he explains, adding that so far, the water bill has been almost negligible.

The sustainable features included in the new facility resulted in the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) certifying it as the first LEED Platinum refrigerated foodservice facility in the U.S.

Earlier this month, the USGBC’s Illinois chapter recognized Testa with one of its annual Emerald Awards it gives to companies in the state for green building innovation. And next week (June 8), the Illinois Chamber of Commerce and Illinois Development Council will honor Testa with an “Edie” Award (Economic Development in Illinois) at a ceremony to recognize a handful of Illinois businesses for significant economic development projects completed in the prior year.

Crain’s met up with Mr. Testa to learn the reasons behind the company’s green agenda and the financing needed to make it happen.

Crain’s: Testa Produce isn’t the sort of business you’d expect to seek out the highest green building and energy standards possible, so why are you doing this?

Peter Testa

Mr. Testa: It matters to my clients and it matters to me. I’ve been in the agricultural business for 40 years. I’m familiar with pesticides and the effects they have on the environment and I’m concerned about that. At an early age I wanted to make sure if we do this kind of business, let’s be as environmentally friendly as possible, even witih our buildings.

I’m also in a family-run business, so I have to differentiate myself from the rest of the pack of larger companies. I want clients to say they like that I’m using renewable energy, and that I’m a pretty good produce company too. All the fancy bells and whistles won’t do squat if you don’t execute on your core business.

Crain’s: Why did you choose to set the bar so high by going for LEED Platinum certification, which has the toughest standards to meet?

Mr. Testa: My construction people said I couldn’t do it, but we’ve always tried for excellence and I don’t believe you can’t do something you really want to do. If I’m going to have a 30% electric bill savings each year going forward (by adding renewables), why wouldn’t I do it?

Our builders looked at the power we generate to cool our facility and the energy points were very difficult to get (to achieve Platinum status) unless you can figure it out from renewable sources. We wanted to show people that this is possible. Also, I’m not a corporation, so I have the luxury of pursuing these things without board approval. I just had to convince my brother to go along with it.

Crain’s: How much money did the company invest in all the green features of the new building project and how did you finance them?

Mr. Testa: Green technology is 10-20% of the cost of a building and ours was closer to 20% because we addded so many features. That cost was about $3-4 million.

Banks don’t like to finance green technology because they look at your building as a whole and they initially may discount it so it doesn’t add to the appraisal. It was a big leap of faith for the banks to step up and finance this project. As time went on, they realized the green features aren’t a detriment, they’re a plus because they saw our reductions in water and energy costs.

Crain’s: What’s the expected ROI on these systems?

Mr. Testa: Those are floating numbers. With the wind turbine, we expect a payback in about 8-9 years if it continues to generate a little more than 30% of the facility’s energy needs. The solar panels may take 3-4 years or sooner. The water harvesting can give us a return on investment in less than two years. I thank the mayor for that because he raised the water rates.

We’re applying for government grants (to offset costs) even though we know it’s a long process and we don’t know if we’ll get any. You can’t count on that as part of the financing mechanism, but if we get any money, we agreed with the bank that we’d use it to help pay down the debt.

Crain’s: Lots of business owners say they’re waiting for renewable energy costs to come down or hoping for better federal and state incentives. Why did you decide to move forward?

Mr. Testa: Everyone needs to stop waiting for the government to do things for them. The green technology market is underutilized and we could use it to make ourselves self-dependent. Oil and coal are finite resources. Last time I checked the sun is free and right now we have plenty of water.

We’re even moving to electric trucks (at Testa) to get us away from diesel fuel, which I would love to get rid of immediately. I have two electric trucks coming in a month. The range is only 100 miles, but I’m only four miles from downtown and those smaller trucks are actually better to get around in that area. I have about 60 trucks on the road and we use close to 1,500 gallons a day, but I won’t buy more electrics until we get a longer range.

Crain’s: What advice do you have for other Chicago companies that are considering adding green building features in a renovation or new construction project?

Mr. Testa: Do your research. Don’t take the first person who comes to you with green technology. Know what things should cost, know where to look for them and know who’s going to fix it if it breaks. You don’t want to buy something from Germany if it takes an engineer from Germany to fix it.

There’s nothing that can intimidate someone about green technology as long as you can read. I was raised in the produce industry, and I certainly wasn’t a green expert. You just need to invest a little time, just like you’d do research before buying a car.

Chicago entrepreneurs in the clean-tech sector are making time for a networking event that’s gaining popularity.

The Chicago Clean Energy Alliance has amassed an email list of more than 6,000 individuals who either work in the clean-tech industry or in a related field, says David Carman, one of the alliance’s co-founders. Mr. Carman, a former options trader at the Chicago Board Options Exchange and currently president and CEO of Business Network Chicago, says the group was formed by people who want to see growth in the renewable energy sector even though they generally aren’t active players in that market. The other co-founders are Bryan Villano, Darrin Stern and Dan Fedor.

The CCEA is a volunteer-run organization that focuses primarily on organizing quarterly networking events around Chicago. Unlike the Clean Energy Trust, the alliance doesn’t have staff to offer mentoring.

However, both organizations now have one feature that’s similar: a fast-pitch competition that invites renewable energy companies to present their business models to a panel of judges. Winners either get cash prizes (from the Clean Energy Trust) or move on to the next round (after the CCEA) for a shot at getting face time with prominent investors. Participants at the Clean Energy Trust event typically are early-stage firms.

Last month, the CCEA held its first live Clean Tech Competition where 10 later-stage companies pitched their stories to 10 judges and about 125 attendees. Of the total, six companies were selected to move to the next round of fast pitches that will be run by the Global Cleantech Cluster Association in Savannah, Ga., next October. The GCCA has 38 member groups worldwide, including the Chicago alliance.

Midwest players among that group heading to Savannah include H.E. System Technologies and Xolve.

Crain’s met up with Mr. Carman after the recent fast-pitch competition to talk about how the Chicago alliance fits into the local green business landscape.

Crain’s: How long has CCEA been around and why was there a need to form this organization?

David Carman

Mr. Carman: We had our first networking event in December 2009 at the Mid-America Club. We knew we were onto something when we had to close registration before the event because we already hit the max at 500 people. We wanted to start a network to bring out the top players in Chicago working in clean energy or related to it in some way. A more typical gathering these days brings in 150 to 250 people.

We also want to showcase promising clean-tech technologies. At one of our events, we brought out a Tesla ($100,000-plus electric car), a Chevy Volt and others for people there to check out. We even had an electric motorcycle at the 95th at the top of the (John) Hancock building for people to drive around up there. We can’t show a wind farm, so there’s limits to what we can do.

Crain’s: What else happens at the events you organize?

Mr. Carman: We always have a speaker or panel discussion. We’ve brought in state representatives and senators to talk to our members. We also have people come and talk about cutting-edge ideas and disruptive technologies. We haven’t made a concerted effort to reach out to venture capitalists, but some of them show up at our networking events. We’re still evolving.

Crain’s: How would you characterize the availability of Midwest venture-capital investment dollars in the renewable energy sector?

Mr. Carman: Getting funding for clean tech is tougher than getting into an Ivy League school. There are some sources of capital for clean tech in Chicago, but it’s not easy to get. The hottest area right now is in the digital space, and few of those companies are actually getting funding. The returns on clean tech haven’t been as great as those at digital companies and (the clean tech businesses) won’t ever go viral. There aren’t going to be any Facebooks in this sector.

Crain’s: Do you have any predictions about future VC funding for local entrepreneurs pursuing renewable energy products and services?

Mr. Carman: I don’t think this space is going away anytime soon and I think it will thrive. But many government subsidies are coming to an end and the big money often goes to a few concentrated deals. I’m sure there will be a lot of (VC) money, but startups are inherently risky and you’re trying to get someone to give you their hard-earned money. Getting funding is like a crusade: You have to beat the drums consistently.

Crain’s: When is the alliance’s next gathering?

Mr. Carman: Sometime in June, but we haven’t set an exact date or location yet. We’ll post it on our website soon.

Residents at close to two dozen affordable housing buildings will soon be getting electricity from the sun via solar panels on their rooftops.

Hippolito “Paul” Roldan, president and CEO of Hispanic Housing Development Corp., is kicking off a $7 million renewable energy initiative this month at 13 housing projects in Chicago neighborhoods including Humboldt Park, Logan Square, West Town and Rogers Park. More than 3,900 photovoltaic panels and other retrofits will be installed on 21 buildings with 1,300 apartments. Co-generation systems that direct energy from hot water tanks back into the building power supply will be added as another renewable feature.

Mr. Roldan created Affordable Community Energy Inc., a new for-profit subsidiary within HHDC, to carry out these efforts. He estimates the program will result in a 17 percent annual energy savings and an 850-ton reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. The program will be offered to other building owners and managers of affordable-housing projects if the upcoming pilot is considered a success. He’ll also expand the program to the remainder of HHDC’s buildings throughout the city.

This isn’t Mr. Roldan’s first energy-focused foray in lower-income housing. Between 2007 and 2010, HHDC completed $1.5 million in energy efficiency improvements at some of its buildings with the help of the Center for Neighborhood Technology and others. Those efforts led to a 26 percent reduction in annual energy usage, he said.

As co-chair of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s Green Ribbon Committee and a member of the original group established by Mayor Richard M. Daley, Mr. Roldan had helped implement the Chicago Climate Action Plan’s strategies for reducing the city’s carbon footprint. A key component of that plan calls for retrofitting existing buildings in the city with more energy efficient systems and non-fossil fuel energy options to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and slash utility costs as well. Mr. Roldan decided to do his part, beginning with buildings in his company’s own portfolio.

In recognition of his commitment to greening the Chicago residential and economic landscape, Mr. Roldan last week was honored as a “Partner in Change” by the Delta Institute, a nonprofit that works to boost the local green economy.

Crain’s caught up with Mr. Roldan this week to talk about his upcoming renewable energy venture.

Crain’s: Will the solar panels and co-generation systems power the entire building once they’re installed?

Hippolito Roldan

Mr. Roldan: The solar photovoltaic panels and co-generation will generate energy for the common areas of the buildings and will generate 20 percent to 25 percent of the buildings’ total energy consumption. It will also reduce the risk of future spikes in energy costs because they’ll be making some of their own energy, and it will help these buildings deal with failures in the grid. Combined, they’re expected to generate over 1 million kilowatt hours a year.

Crain’s: Were you able to tap any state or federal incentive programs to help finance the $7 million price tag for this project?

Mr. Roldan: We’re getting a 30 percent federal tax credit for the solar panel costs and 10 percent for the combined heat and power (co-generation), which totals a bit over $1 million. We’re also benefiting from a federal new market tax credit of about $1.4 million that supports businesses in economically distressed areas. (The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development) is giving us $900,000 to test leading edge business models and tools. Also, we got a grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and another for energy audits from the Center for Neighborhood Technology. We also have our own project reserve money for improvements that are being used to invest in these efforts.

Hopefully in the next 10 years there will be so much efficiency in renewable energy (that’s widely known) that we won’t need public subsidies to get these projects done. My prediction is that very quickly technology will outstrip the need for these public subsidies, but right now we can’t do it without them.

Crain’s: What’s the timeline for finishing this project and then offering to install these systems for others?

Mr. Roldan: We’re starting with one apartment on California Avenue this month and then we’ll continue from there. We’re in the experimental stage and using 25 percent of our own portfolio for that purpose. If the reality matches our pro forma (in energy savings) and it makes sense to move forward, we’ll use more of our own properties and offer it to others as well. There are 60,000 affordable housing apartments in Chicago and we’ll probably begin to reach out to other owners soon to see if they’re interested.

Crain’s: How do residents of these affordable-housing projects benefit from the energy cost savings if they don’t directly pay their utility bills anyway?

Mr. Roldan: There are benefits to the property itself because over time it will have reduced operating costs from the renewable energy systems. That sets the stage for getting additional income in the operating mix and onsite managers will have the option of what to do with the extra capital. They can make improvements in the building or directly in some of the apartments.

We also plan to set up a pilot program for behavior change (in energy usage) among our residents. Once we install the new energy systems, we’ll try to create some type of incentive program with their help, track its impact and share savings with the residents if it gets them to change their behavior to be more energy efficient.

Crain’s: In the bigger picture, how are you engaged in the mayor’s Green Ribbon Committee?

Mr. Roldan: The Green (Ribbon) Committee was Mayor Daley’s idea, but Mayor Emanuel has a different approach to it. He’s focusing on job creation and entrepreneurship in a very powerful way to get the private sector involved in realizing that substantial savings can be achieved (in the green economy). We put together a strong marketing approach and now we’re reaching out to the private sector. If we’re successful, our children and their children will benefit from these efforts.

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Posted in Green Scene | Comments Off on This week’s Green Scene column in Crain’s Chicago Business: Chicago developer adding renewable energy to low-income housing projects