The 110-storey Sears Building in Chicago – the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere – is slated for a $350 million refurbishing that will see the implementation of a range of energy efficiency measures including the installation of solar panels to heat water and the erection of wind turbines on building setbacks.
The firm responsible for the retro-design, Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, has designed a 50 storey complex on the south side of the Sears Tower which will draw power from the improved efficiency measures and work as a net-zero energy development. (Source: New York Times, June 24, 2009/World Architecture News, June 25, 2009)
Contact: Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, (312) 920-1888, info@smithgill.com, www.smithgill.com.