Takeda – The offices on the Takeda Park campus have been designed with attention to the sun’s path to give employees the maximum amount of exposure to natural daylight. Takeda’s Phase I achieved LEED gold level certification. Phase I included native prairie landscaping; open space with water efficient landscaping; using covered parking to mitigate heat islands; using site lighting sensitively to support the Dark Sky initiatives; and using permeable pavement and bioswales as part of the stormwater management program. The Phase I office buildings included HVAC, lighting and buildings systems that meet energy efficiency standards; and the use of low VOC (volatile organic compounds) emitting materials such as adhesives, sealants, paints and carpet. Takeda also encourages its employees to use alternative transportation such as mass transit, bicycles and carpooling. For Phase II, which received Village approval in spring 2009, Takeda is seeking LEED silver level certification. Prairie plantings and efficient energy usage in the building are the focus of Takeda’s Phase II LEED initiatives. Phase II will also include many of the green and sustainable initiatives that were present in Phase I.

Textura – Textura has moved into and renovated the former Teradyne building on Lake Cook Road. As part of the renovation, Textura has incorporated many green features into its redesign of the existing building including: energy efficient glass; sunshades projecting from the building to control the incoming natural light; the interior lighting has sensors to adjust lighting levels to accommodate as much natural light as possible for energy savings; and reusing the existing building structure and recycling the existing components. For the future, Textura is also planning a green trellised area on the east side of the building made of a polycarbonate greenhouse roof.

Weinberg Community Expansion – The Weinberg Community expansion will incorporate several green features. There will be a green roof on the independent living units (ILU) building; the residential parking spaces for the ILU will be underground in order to reduce surface parking; there will be bike storage facilities; the new ILU and Health Center buildings will have highly energy efficient systems, equipment and building envelopes; recycled content and materials will be used. Also, certain areas of the property will be seeded with native and drought tolerant plants; stormwater will be filtered through native grasses where possible; irrigation will be limited to mostly refined landscaped areas; and efficient irrigation systems, such as drip irrigation will be installed.

Park District’s Briarwood Nature Area –The new parking lot for the Briarwood Nature Area is constructed from porous pavers so the rainwater penetrates directly through the parking lot surface and is filtered through gravel and then returned to the Middle Fork of the North Branch of the Chicago River. The Park District is also making trail improvements and eradicating invasive and noxious plant species (such as buckthorn) throughout the area. Other improvements to the area include a wetland restoration of Trail Tree Park which includes restoration and stabilization of 350 feet of stream bank by softening the bank’s slope to reduce erosion. The Park District will install riprap along the banks to help slow future erosion. They will also plant native grasses along the banks and will plant floodplain rain gardens of wetland plants which absorb water at a faster rate and filter the water as it returns to the river. The Park District is also installing a bird watching hide and an overlook in the Trail Tree Park. There will be informational/educational signage throughout Briarwood Nature Area and Trail Tree Park which will cover topics such as porous paving, trail trees, flood plains, and the history of the Middle Fork creek.

River Bank Restoration at Deerfield High School, Shepard Middle School and True Way Presbyterian Church – The river bank restoration project at Deerfield High School consisted of removing buckthorn and other weedy trees, reconfiguration of the banks, removal of bank material from the floodplain, constructing terraces at water level, reducing the slopes of the bank, reconstructing a crushed limestone footpath along the restored river bank, placing limestone cobble riffles along the channel bottom, installing erosion control products such as coconut fiber rolls, and sowing seeds and planting thousands of native plugs and hundreds of small shrubs and trees.

River bank restoration at Shepard Middle School and True Way Church included stream bank stabilization, as well as creating pockets of stone and planting native prairie grasses in the floodway.

Wastewater Reclamation Facility – The Village of Deerfield is pursuing LEED certification for the administration building. The main purpose of the LEED certification is for the Village to act in a leadership role and promote sustainable design. Some of the sustainable design elements include an effluent heat recovery system, which uses the stable, year-round temperature of the effluent as a heating and cooling source; enhanced ventilation systems; insulation; individually controlled lighting systems; low use plumbing systems; good indoor air quality through the use low VOC (volatile organic compounds) products; a rain garden to handle runoff from the administration building; and the use of construction waste management techniques including reducing waste and recycling as much as possible. In addition to the LEED certification, other sustainable elements on the site include the rain garden for the biosolids building and porous paving in low-traffic areas.

Northwest Quadrant Redevelopment – The Village is considering redesigning a portion of the Northwest Quadrant of the Village (former Bank One and Lindemann’s lots). Currently these areas are parking lots. The Village would like to redesign these parking lots to create a more attractive area in the downtown that will consist of a community gathering space and some parking. The Village would like to incorporate sustainable “green” features into the redesign. The Village is considering sustainable design elements such as the installation of wind turbines, the use of permeable or porous asphalt or cement for the parking lot, and the use of recycled materials. Also under consideration are the use of informational signage to educate and inform the public about green practices, and the planting of additional trees.

Stormwater User Guide – A User Guide was adopted by the Village that encourages the use of green and sustainable tools at the lot level. The new User Guide will be used to administer the current stormwater ordinance. The User Guide encourages the owner/developer to utilize various methods of their choosing to meet the goals of the Village’s stormwater ordinance including elements such as rain barrels, rain gardens, and porous paver driveways and patios, native plantings, turf blocks and green roofs.

Deerfield’s Participation in the Alternative Energy Task Force of Lake County Communities – Since spring 2009 Deerfield Planning staff has been participating in the Alternative Energy Task Force of Lake County Communities. Originally, this Task Force was organized to analyze available data and information on wind energy systems and to develop suggested guidelines for Wind Energy in Lake County, Illinois. The Task Force brought together staff from Lake County, over twenty Lake County municipalities and two consulting firms to coordinate in crafting a model ordinance that can be widely adopted by Lake County communities and adapted to fit each community’s individual needs. The model ordinance has been completed and is now available for communities to use. The Task Force encourages each Lake County community to evaluate the separate provisions of the model ordinance to assure that the guidelines will suit the community’s own particular needs. The Take Force is now crafting a model ordinance on solar and geothermal energy systems.

Tree Graphic

Site Map | Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions