This is the third in a series to honor Martin Luther King Jr.'s campaign for fair housing and worker rights. Previous posts examined the Chicago Freedom Movement and miners killed by Massey Energy in West Virginia. This post is about an affordable housing project that features state-of-the-art energy efficiency and clean energy components.
Low income families are always hit hardest by rising energy costs. Juggling the costs of food, housing, transportation, and electricity can mean the difference between poverty and misery.
Misery and poverty are frequently confused, because they are close-close, but located on either side of a limit. On one side, economic life is not assured; on the other side, it is assured. Beneath that limit, there’s misery, no certainty of a viable life, constant risk; above the limit, the risk stops, and poor or rich, there is assurance. Immediately above the limit is poverty, and above that are the successive zones of affluence. All below is misery; poverty is only a little above; thus the two are close in quantity, closer than much affluence is to poverty. Judging only by quantity, wealth is much further from poverty than poverty is from misery; but between poverty and misery is a distinction in quality, in nature.
Interfaith Housing Development Corporation in Chicago has designed a housing project to limit the impact of energy costs and help some low income families avoid misery. It also will help keep their carbon footprint as tiny as their electric bills.
Interfaith has designed and built over 300 affordable housing projects over the past two decades. As energy costs have risen, they saw the need to push the envelope of efficiency. Four years ago, they began work on their most ambitious project to date.
Interfaith acquired a building that once housed Comcast's local offices and maintenance facility in Oak Park, a collar suburb of Chicago. Interfaith was hoping to use this as one of their centerpiece buildings, which would attract interest and additional funding to extend the concepts to other projects. Here are some of the innovative energy components.
The development plan includes incorporating green elements to create a responsible LEED certified building. Foremost in sustainability, is the plan to retain and repurpose the building. The technology includes a geo-thermal park of 21 wells drilled 650-feet deep to tap the earth’s natural resources, providing 100 percent heating and cooling. The landscaped ‘park’ on the north side would provide a green relief between the buildings, respecting the adjacent single-family residence. The interior would be protected by high energy performance insulation, recycled content materials, and fluorescent lighting.
Interfaith wants to be help pioneer small-scale application of geothermal energy, demonstrating feasibility for future affordable housing projects. The goal is to virtually eliminate energy costs for the apartments. Add in EnergyStar appliances and the electricity needed to power the units will be quite limited, particularly with geothermal energy powering heating and cooling systems.
Affordable housing that minimizes electricity use is particularly important in the Chicago area where electricity costs are much higher on average than the rest of nation and have risen faster. In February of 2011, electricity costs in Chicago were 19.2% higher than the national average according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. This graph shows the trend for electricity prices in the Chicago metropolitan area relative to the national average from 2006 to 2011.
The location in Oak Park is also critical because it is readily accessible to public transportation, eliminating the need to own and rely on a car. There are two 'L' lines that run within a half-mile of the project, providing easy access to Chicago. There is also a commuter rail stop about 5 blocks to the north that provides service to Chicago and western suburbs.
Six major bus routes connecting to points in every direction have stops nearby. There is also a few trolley that stops several blocks away that provides service to major destination points within the village. It is even only a 30-minute bike ride to the Chicago Loop area. Many stores in the area are within easy walking distance.
Interfaith wanted the renovation to have pretty face to go with its buff interior. The building was originally built in 1928 to house a Cadillac dealership. When Comcast the bought the building in 1981, they covered the brick and windows with DryVit, a synthetic stucco, creating something of an eyesore. Interfaith plans to restore the façade to its original appearance while adding two floors. You can see the original façade to the right. The architectural rendering of the new and improved skin for the building is shown below. Apart from the difference in height, the renovation will be a spitting image of Albert Kahn's original design.
After obtaining the building, funding, and most of the required permits, Interfaith presented the project to the community in a series of public hearings. Everything seemed to be going smoothly until a small but vocal group began to play the dreaded not-in-my-backyard (NIMBY) card. Fifteen months and 31 public hearings later, the project still lacks the final approval to break ground.
One reason Interfaith chose Oak Park was that NIMBY opposition seemed unlikely. Although largely affluent, the village has a strong progressive outlook. It was one of the first suburbs to become racially integrated. There is a large and vibrant gay community. The village began extending benefits to same-sex partners of employees more than twenty years ago. Thousands of houses sport red signs of solidarity with unions. It also celebrates the value of clean energy and the importance of responding to climate change. In fact, you will find 350.org graphics all over the village, including this one on village hall.
The NIMBY opposition comes from a small group calling itself the Concerned Citizens - Madison Avenue Housing Project have been vocal opponents of the Interfaith project. They have aired their "concerns" at public hearings, in local newspapers, and on their Facebook site.
The "concerns" raised by the NIMBY group are trite. They question the need for the project despite more than 200 applicants to the local housing authority that would qualify. They quibble about design issues including building height and dedicated parking. There have been many projects recently built within a half-mile of the Interfaith proposed renovation that are much taller and have much less parking, yet did not generate any controversy. This four-story building will not stand out in size, shape, or appearance in the area. Although the Historic Preservation Commission has already given unanimous approval to the project, opponents want Comcast's 1981 stucco comb-over to be labeled as historically significant. I wish I were joking.
The Concerned Citizens have also used the fact that Interfaith has served a wide range of populations in previous projects to create fear about the low income residents of the Oak Park project. Despite assurances, the "concerns" persist. They are even demanding that anyone with a history of substance abuse be excluded. Here is the targeted population for proposed project:
The targeted tenant would be single, working (income less than $26,000/year) and currently employed or living in Oak Park.
It all boils down to a few affluent people not wanting low income people living nearby. Perhaps the opponents should read Oak Park's diversity statement. Here are a few key passages.
Oak Park has committed itself to equality not only because it is legal, but because it is right; not only because equality is ethical, but because it is desirable for us and our children. Ours is a dynamic community that encourages the contributions of all citizens, regardless of race, color, ethnicity, ancestry, national origin, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital and/or familial status, mental and/or physical impairment and/or disability, military status, economic class, political affiliation, or any of the other distinguishing characteristics that all too often divide people in society.
We believe that mutual understanding among individuals of diverse backgrounds can best be attained with an attitude of reciprocal good will and increased association.
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The irony is that this project is aimed at people who are working and is funded from private sources. The very people who are complaining about their taxes and a new school funding referendum are also whining about a project that helps people without relying on tax dollars. You would think that worshippers of the free market and small government would be shouting praise for the Interfaith project from every rooftop.
I not sure the NIMBY opponents understand that how important the success of this project is to Interfaith as they look to make cutting edge energy technology an integral component of affordable housing projects. Paul Vietti, Interfaith's Chief Operating Officer, lives two blocks from the proposed project. Interfaith has assembled a team of architects and clean energy specialists along with capital investment. This is not a plant it and forget it project. They need a success story to grow a concept.
An illustration of some of Oak Park's public transportation options with a bus stopped outside one of the 'L' train stations near one of the 350.org murals.