Welcome back to my blog. This post is for the second Action Project of the STEAM class, Urban Planning. In this second unit, Power, we have been studying all things electricity. We started by looking at how batteries work in our phones and then onto Nikola Tesla with his Alternating Current and Thomas Edison and his Direct Current. These two current systems have played an important role in how energy is transferred through electronic devices and across large distances. Using this research, we investigated static electricity, current electricity, and magnetism to understand how electricity works. We also worked with circuits to see how electricity would flow and provide light. For math, we studied Coulomb's Law compared to Newton's Universal Law of Gravitation, Ohm's Law, and equations using the Power formula. We finished up the unit by looking at light pollution which is a problem in Chicago and then smart grids like the one in Denmark. For this AP, we have been asked to choose an older building in downtown Chicago and think about how it can be retrofitted to be more energy-efficient or produce energy on its own. The building I chose was the James R. Thompson Center. In the paper below, I explain how the Thompson Center is currently using energy and what solutions could be employed to improve its usage.
Description of the building:
James R. Thompson Center, Crain's
Thompson Center Indoor 1, HK
Thompson Center Indoor 2, HK
Description of the building:
The James R. Thompson Center sits on an entire city block bordered by Lake, LaSalle, Randolph, and Clark Streets. The address of the Thompson Center is 100 W Randolph. The building holds offices for state agencies including the Secretary of State Facility and restaurants. It was designed by Helmut Jahn and opened in May 1985. In the 70s and 80s, the North Loop Renewal Plan joined 50 different state of Illinois agency offices into one building to reverse decades of decline in the area. This would consolidate three government buildings that stood within a city block of each other. The construction of the Thompson Center could become an accessible and inviting place to do business with the state of Illinois right in downtown Chicago. The 17-story building features a large skylit atrium, lined with balconies of office space and exposed elevators. The Thompson Center has two sides of straight walls on LaSalle and Lake Streets but on the other side is a curved dome from Jahn’s breaking of the straight lines of modernism. The building also opens onto a large food court from a circular cutout in the floor.
Interest in the building:
I was drawn to this building because of the dome-like structure on one side. Downtown Chicago has a lot of straight and rectangular buildings but the Thompson Center strays from the norm. The building gives off the feeling of openness in state government through the large rotunda and exposed elevators and escalators. With this knowledge, I like the building even more because it is not as enclosed as other government buildings and makes use of a great open indoor space.
Where the building gets energy from:
While the website about the information of the Thompson Center does not explicitly say where the building gets its energy, it can be assumed that it would take power from the electrical grid. The electrical or power grid delivers electricity from power plants to homes and businesses around the country. The power grid can generate and distribute electricity with its vast network of stations and connection points. The grid can do three different things: ensure the best practice use of energy resources, provide greater power supply capacity, and make power system operations more economical and reliable. Illinois has a mix of energy production with 54% from nuclear (most in the nation), 30% from coal, 7% from natural gas, and 10% from renewables. Illinois is also served by two electrical grids, ComEd and Ameren. Since the state generates more electricity than what can be consumed, it exports electricity as a key energy hub for the nation.
How the energy is used:
The Thompson Center website does not tell much about what the building uses energy for but it holds offices, shops, and a food court which would consume energy for lighting, electronics, and heat. The building does have an innovative cooling system that is environmentally friendly and makes use of ice or “slushies.” This slushy machine is made of massive chillers in the basement that make thousands of pounds of an icy slush mixture of water and glycol. The ice is made each night when the energy costs are lower. During the day, the ice is pumped throughout the building and the air conditioning systems blow air across the pipes that hold the ice. In the evening, the ice has melted and is pumped back into the basement to be cooled again.
Energy usage solutions:
One way the Thompson Center can produce its own energy is by installing solar panel windows. The building already has a large number of windows that provide natural light into the building and solar panel windows can work just as well while generating renewable electricity. Installing the panels would not alter the Thompson Center’s appearance because they look like regular glass windows. With the shape and size of the building, the Thompson Center could collect lots of sunlight throughout the day and save on regular energy usage.
A second cleaner energy solution would be green roofs. Green roofs can help the building be more energy efficient by mitigating thermal heal gain and insulating the building. The Thompson Center has flat roof space that would work great for a green roof. Green roof plants can remove air particulates, produce oxygen, and provide shade. If it were to span the whole flat top of the building, the need for heating and cooling would be considerably reduced and improve the service life of HVAC systems which is important when keeping the ice cooling system in mind.
Comparing solutions:
Both solar windows and green roofs are great sustainable means of producing and conserving energy. If we compare by aesthetics, a green roof would be more noticeable in the city while solar windows look the same as regular glass windows. Solar windows are good for generating energy and green roofs are better for conserving energy and increasing efficiency. Ultimately, the Thompson Center is a large building that has a lot of needs to be using energy and can become quite costly. A green roof could cut down on the cost but would not save the building from obtaining its energy from non-renewable sources. Solar windows would be able to generate renewable energy and either move the Thompson Center to use only renewable energy sources or have energy sourced primarily from renewable sources. If done correctly, solar windows would reduce energy costs, pollution, and the carbon footprint of the building while providing ample or enough energy to be used throughout the day by all who work or visit there.
Interest in the building:
I was drawn to this building because of the dome-like structure on one side. Downtown Chicago has a lot of straight and rectangular buildings but the Thompson Center strays from the norm. The building gives off the feeling of openness in state government through the large rotunda and exposed elevators and escalators. With this knowledge, I like the building even more because it is not as enclosed as other government buildings and makes use of a great open indoor space.
Where the building gets energy from:
While the website about the information of the Thompson Center does not explicitly say where the building gets its energy, it can be assumed that it would take power from the electrical grid. The electrical or power grid delivers electricity from power plants to homes and businesses around the country. The power grid can generate and distribute electricity with its vast network of stations and connection points. The grid can do three different things: ensure the best practice use of energy resources, provide greater power supply capacity, and make power system operations more economical and reliable. Illinois has a mix of energy production with 54% from nuclear (most in the nation), 30% from coal, 7% from natural gas, and 10% from renewables. Illinois is also served by two electrical grids, ComEd and Ameren. Since the state generates more electricity than what can be consumed, it exports electricity as a key energy hub for the nation.
How the energy is used:
The Thompson Center website does not tell much about what the building uses energy for but it holds offices, shops, and a food court which would consume energy for lighting, electronics, and heat. The building does have an innovative cooling system that is environmentally friendly and makes use of ice or “slushies.” This slushy machine is made of massive chillers in the basement that make thousands of pounds of an icy slush mixture of water and glycol. The ice is made each night when the energy costs are lower. During the day, the ice is pumped throughout the building and the air conditioning systems blow air across the pipes that hold the ice. In the evening, the ice has melted and is pumped back into the basement to be cooled again.
Energy usage solutions:
One way the Thompson Center can produce its own energy is by installing solar panel windows. The building already has a large number of windows that provide natural light into the building and solar panel windows can work just as well while generating renewable electricity. Installing the panels would not alter the Thompson Center’s appearance because they look like regular glass windows. With the shape and size of the building, the Thompson Center could collect lots of sunlight throughout the day and save on regular energy usage.
A second cleaner energy solution would be green roofs. Green roofs can help the building be more energy efficient by mitigating thermal heal gain and insulating the building. The Thompson Center has flat roof space that would work great for a green roof. Green roof plants can remove air particulates, produce oxygen, and provide shade. If it were to span the whole flat top of the building, the need for heating and cooling would be considerably reduced and improve the service life of HVAC systems which is important when keeping the ice cooling system in mind.
Comparing solutions:
Both solar windows and green roofs are great sustainable means of producing and conserving energy. If we compare by aesthetics, a green roof would be more noticeable in the city while solar windows look the same as regular glass windows. Solar windows are good for generating energy and green roofs are better for conserving energy and increasing efficiency. Ultimately, the Thompson Center is a large building that has a lot of needs to be using energy and can become quite costly. A green roof could cut down on the cost but would not save the building from obtaining its energy from non-renewable sources. Solar windows would be able to generate renewable energy and either move the Thompson Center to use only renewable energy sources or have energy sourced primarily from renewable sources. If done correctly, solar windows would reduce energy costs, pollution, and the carbon footprint of the building while providing ample or enough energy to be used throughout the day by all who work or visit there.
This Action Project was a quick one to complete but was interesting to work on. To choose a building we walked around downtown Chicago looking at older buildings such as City Hall, the Rookery Building, the Thompson Center, The Chicago Theatre, Field Building, and The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. Each of these buildings had its own stonework or metalwork and the Rookery had a very impressive interior designed by Frank Loyd Wright. I thought each of these buildings was interesting but I chose the Thompson Center because it has always caught my eye since I was younger. I think the Thompson Center could explore the two energy-conserving options and if done right, create an even more impressive government building. Thank you for reading and I hope to see you in the next post.
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