One of Chicago’s hottest new boutique hotels is also proving to be high on the energy-efficiency list. TheWit’s low energy consumption comes from a combination of several carefully designed efficiency features.The electric bill for the 27-story, 298-room hotel has run only about $7,000 per month. One example of the building’s efficiency is its extensive use of LED lighting, which draws less current per unit of illumination than incandescent lighting and generates less heat. The building also uses some incandescent and other types of lights where they are the best choice. Since opening in July, theWit, located on State Street in
Federal stimulus money will be the financial engine driving about $2.6 billion of high-speed rail work in the Upper Midwest during 2010. About $2.6 billion in federal stimulus money will be provided to the Upper Midwest for high-speed rail work. The Chicago-St. Louis line is scheduled to receive $1.1 billion, the most of any Midwest route. The region’s key routes include Chicago-St. Louis-Kansas City; Chicago-Detroit; Chicago-Milwaukee-Madison (and in the future Minneapolis-St. Paul); and Cleveland-Columbus-Dayton-Cincinnati. Related Links: In High Gear Second Take The federal government announced in late January that it would award $8 billion nationwide this year to projects that
The new 150-kilowatt array of solar panels to be installed atop Torresen Marine�s facility in Muskegon, Mich., starting the last week of April will be the highest-output solar system installed to date in Michigan. Chart House Energy, Chicago, is the project’s general contractor. Inovateus Solar of South Bend, Ind., is supplying the solar panels, which are made by Scheuten Solar USA, whose parent company is headquartered in the Netherlands. This is the first installation of Scheuten solar panels in the U.S. The array of 750 panels, each about 2.5 ft wide by 4 ft tall and weighing about 30 lb,
A recent report from the National Research Council will help guide the federal government as it develops fuel-economy and carbon regulations for medium- and heavy-duty trucks. Congress is looking at this group of previously unregulated vehicles because they use 26% of the liquid transportation fuel consumed in the U.S., and their energy consumption is projected to continue rising for the next 25 years. The 414-page report shows that combining such technologies as advanced diesel engines, hybrid powertrains, improved aerodynamics, low-resistance tires and others could improve fuel economy in work vehicles by as much as 50% by 2035. The cost of
Nearly all the major equipment manufacturers—including Caterpillar, Case/New Holland/Kobelco, Komatsu, Deere, Volvo, Terex and engine specialist Cummins—plan to use a combination of exhaust-gas recirculation (EGR) and a diesel particulate filter (DPF), to meet Interim Tier 4. Image: CNH EGR + DPF Photo: CNH SCR Photo: JCB Related Links: Next Round of Federal Regulations Has Suppliers Retooling Clean Diesel The Future of Clean Diesel Is … Gasoline? The other major technology for Interim Tier 4 is selective-catalytic reduction (SCR), which converts nitrogen oxides to harmless nitrogen and water by dosing exhaust fumes with small amounts of diesel exhaust fluid, an aqueous
The next phase of U.S. regulations aimed at cleaning up airborne emissions from off-road diesel engines will start taking effect in just nine months. The rule, called Tier 4, will all but eliminate the amount of diesel particulate matter (soot) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) that new construction equipment will put into the atmosphere. Photo: Caterpillar Inc. Photo: Caterpillar Inc. Cat’s Clean Emissions Module—the Tier 4 excavator at left uses one—will fit on new and existing engines. The particulate filter can regenerate, or burn soot, without idling the machine. Related Links: Three Ways Manufacturers Will Meet the Tier 4 Standards The
Although combinations of in-cylinder systems and exhaust after-treatment are the most likely ways manufacturers will meet clean-diesel requirements over the next five years, researchers are looking at alternative fuels, including gasoline. This alt-fuel interest is being pushed by the industry’s hope of finding a cleaner and more cost-effective way to power construction machinery. Photo: Ricardo Inc. Ricardo’s dual-fuel, flex-fuel mill debuted this year in a pickup truck. Related Links: Next Round of Federal Regulations Has Suppliers Retooling Clean Diesel Three Ways Manufacturers Will Meet the Tier 4 Standards Electrification already has made its debut in commercially available construction equipment during
The project will rebuild the Congress Parkway interchange, which connects Interstate 290 to the north-south leg of Chicago’s Wacker Drive, the double-decker downtown artery made famous in the movie “The Blues Brothers.” Photo: City of Chicago Rebuilding Wacker Drive’s north-south leg will take about two years. Chicago’s Wacker Drive played a starring role in “The Blues Brothers.” After opening the initial round of bids from three prominent Chicago contractors on Feb. 11, the city disqualified two, then rejected the third for being too expensive. The lowest bid, at $73 million, came from a joint venture of F.H Paschen and Cabo
The hospital that served as the model for television’s long-running medical drama “ER” will soon get a new lease on life. Chicago’s 96-year-old Cook County Hospital, vacant since 2002, is about to receive a $108-million renovation that will turn the historic building into administrative offices for the local health-care sector. Photo: Cook County Renovation will turn century-old hospital into administrative offices for medical staff. The two-block-long building has been idle since 2002, when it was replaced by the new John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital, located nearby on the same grounds. After the planned renovation, the old building will house administrative