Listen: Webinar on Accelerating Energy Efficiency

ELPC hosted a webinar on June 9th to review opportunities to improve energy efficiency that have been created through the federal economic stimulus legislation. Th bill provides more than $15 billion to improve  energy efficiency of homes, offices and public buildings in ways that reduce energy costs, avoid pollution, create jobs and support economic vitality.

Congress is now considering legislation that would create the first national energy efficiency standard, Illinois is advancing a new statewide energy efficient residential building code and the Chicago Climate Action Plan and other local initiatives call for rapidly expanding energy efficiency retrofits of buildings in our communities.

The webinar featured ELPC’s Executive Director Howard Learner, ELPC Clean Energy Policy Advocate Barry Matchett, and Craig Sieben, President of Sieben Energy Associates. They described  how the federal economic stimulus funding is being designed and implemented, assessed the potential impact of new Illinois Energy Efficient Building Code and summarized a case study of how a commercial office building can gain efficiency benefits.

Listen: the webinar is available as a podcast for playback; click here to listen to the 30-minute energy efficiency presentation.

Growing Chicago’s Green Economy

How can Chicago become a national green business center? That was the focus of “Growing Chicago’s Green Business and Clean Tech Economy” a conference by the Environmental Law & Policy Center, the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce and the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center last fall. Here are some highlights from the day.

Growing Chicago’s Green Business and Clean Tech Economy

How can Chicago become a national green business center? That was the focus of “Growing Chicago’s Green Business and Clean Tech Economy” a conference by the Environmental Law & Policy Center, the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce and the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center on September 4th. Here are some highlights from the day.

Bringing Clean Cars to Illinois

Illinois is moving to adopt tough new standards to reduce pollution, benefiting the region’s health and reducing global warming pollution-while also improving the area’s economy.

Recycling Illinois’ Electronic Waste

Electronic waste, or E-Waste, includes TVs, computers, monitors, and other electronic equipment. It is the fastest growing part of the solid waste stream, and can pollute ground water if it leaks out of even the most well-run landfill. ELPC is proposing legislation in Illinois to create an E-Waste recycling program.