Contact:
Heather M.Tarczan
Illinois Medical District Commission
[email protected]
312-738-5800
Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation Awards
Nearly $1 Million to Support Illinois Medical District Expansion
Near zero-energy renovated building will house the Anatomical Gift Association of Illinois and serve as a national
model of energy efficiency
CHICAGO, August 5, 2013 – The Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation (ICECF) has awarded
the Illinois Medical District Commission (IMDC), $944,064 to support the transformation of a fivestory District building into a national model of energy efficiency and sustainability. A lease agreement
for this IMD Commission-owned space has already been completed between the IMDC and the
Anatomical Gift Association of Illinois (AGA). The IMDC is the largest urban medical district in the
country.
“This support from the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation will help us ensure that this
sustainable, near zero-energy use building will become a reality,” says IMDC Executive Director
Warren Ribley. “Under the continued leadership and support of Governor Quinn, cost savings from
this renovation, as well as the other energy efficiency investments occurring in the District, will further
drive economic growth and opportunity.”
The ICECF grant will supplement the $3 million that Governor Pat Quinn and IMDC has already
committed to the renovation of the 100-year-old, 30,000-square-foot building located at 2235 W. 13th
Street, Chicago. This is the largest grant ever awarded by the ICECF for a building of this nature.
“The Illinois Medical District continues to thrive,” says Governor Quinn. “With the support from this
grant, we will be able to make this building a model for medical education to first responders,
healthcare professionals, and law enforcement from around the world.”
For this project, the IMDC will strive for Platinum-level Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design
(LEED) certification, which is the highest-level green design, construction, operations and maintenance
recognition from the U.S. Green Building Council.
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Construction on the building is slated to begin this fall and will include energy-efficient and renewable
energy features, such as:
• An integrated photovoltaic (solar power) rainscreen exterior that will insulate and seal the
building to become more energy efficient while generating electricity.
• LED Lighting, low e-glazing, shading, and other simple technologies to generate power from
solar energy.
• Transpiration panels that will use solar power to preheat ventilated air with very little to no
energy use, helping to save energy on heating the building.
• Earthducts that reduce energy consumption by preheating and precooling the air before it
enters the air-handling unit.
• Rooftop solar panels and sun shades will be integrated into the building to maximize solar
energy power generation.
The inside of the structure will include energy-efficient lighting, lighting control, sun shading, and a highefficiency heating and cooling system. In addition, IMDC operations personnel will be trained on
construction and maintenance at U.S. Green Building Council courses and attend 8 to 16 hours of
sustainability/LEED classes per year.
The energy generation features of the building will supply more than 75 percent of its electrical power,
making the structure nearly grid neutral. Additional modular solar trees, designed by a Chicago area
firm, will supply the remaining electrical power to operate the building.
“Renewing an empty, century-old commercial building in the heart of an urban center into an energyefficient and sustainable structure is what the ICECF mission is about,” says Dennis O’Brien, executive
director of ICECF. “Also encouraging to the ICECF board of trustees was that the IMD Commission
already had an impressive tenant eager to establish its headquarters in the space.”
The AGA was founded in 1918 and receives, prepares, preserves and distributes human remains for
the purpose of medical education and research at institutions throughout Illinois and across the
country. Each year, the association plays a vital role in the support of training thousands of medical
personnel, such as doctors, nurses, Army medics, Navy corpsmen and firefighters, and an array of allied
health professionals and medical students. Giving these professionals access to the highest form of
training quickens the pace of life-saving insights.
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About the Illinois Medical District Commission
The Illinois Medical District Commission (IMDC) provides service by assembling the nation’s premier
concentration of healthcare facilities and providers. The IMDC fosters the economic expansion in
Illinois by supporting research and development facilities, including the expansion of social service
organizations that assure the health and well-being of Illinoisans with special needs; creating Illinois’
largest emergency response and disaster preparedness community; and by fostering collaboration
between federal, state, county and local governmental bodies in achieving these objectives.
About the Illinois Clean Energy Commission Foundation
The Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation was established in December 1999 as an independent
foundation with a $225 million endowment provided by Commonwealth Edison. Its mission is to
improve energy efficiency, advance the development of renewable energy resources and protect natural
areas for people in communities all across Illinois. Over the past thirteen years, the Foundation has
steadily grown its support of clean energy investments in Illinois through a widening array of programs.
To date, it has awarded over 3,900 grants providing $191 million to Illinois nonprofit organizations,
schools, municipalities and other local and state government agencies. The grants support activities in
every one of Illinois’ 102 counties.
About the Anatomical Gift Association of Illinois
The Anatomical Gift Association of Illinois the AGA was founded in 1918. It is a 501 (c) 3 not-for-profit
corporation that manages the willed body donor program for the medical, research and educational
institutions of Illinois. It receives, prepares, preserves and distributes human remains for the purpose of
medical education and research at institutions throughout Illinois. The association also transfers
material to several institutions in the United States. AGA plays a vital role in the training of thousands
of medical students and allied health professionals annually.
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