Tech Company Goes Green in Woodstock

If you've been a Mac owner for a certain amount of time, you're probably at least casually familiar with Other World Computing, the Woodstock, Illinois-based online seller of Apple computers, electronics, and accessories.  What you may not know, is that OWC is one of the latest Chicagoland tech company to go green.

Other World recently became the first light manufacturing / assembly building in Illinois to be awarded LEED Platinum status.  It hired Harris Architects in Palatine to head the project which included installing a geothermal heat pump, using high-tech insulation, and equipping the building with facilities that encourage people to ride their bicycles to work.

The most visible green element is the 194-foot-tall wind turbine.  It generates more than double the power the company needs, so the rest gets sold to the local utility company and ends up in homes in McHenry County.

Most interesting to me is that OWC is engaged in sunlight harvesting.  I first saw this on a science program in the 1990's, where a Japanese skyscraper was using an array on the roof to gather sunlight, and then deliver it to cubicles via fiber optic cables.  Eight of the last ten offices I worked in didn't have windows, so this was something that got my attention and something I always hoped would become commonplace.  Alas, it has failed to catch on as a "green" element as quickly as vegetative roofs or low-flow toilets.  But maybe what One World Computing has done will inspire other companies to provide just a little bit of sun to those who toil in their cubicle farms.

• You can click here to read One World Computing's full press release about its green efforts.
• And click here to take a virtual tour of OWC's facility.

Slice of Life: Chicago's Wettest Hotel's New Home

Chicago's Fish Hotel moved to a new home this year.  Last year it was on the western side of the Michigan Avenue Bridge and looked like a makeshift affair.  This year it's on the eastern side and is even sporting a big sign so people know what it is.

The Say Good-Bye Gallery

Many of the more enduring memories I have of being a child in the 1970's were of the horrible predictions of things to come.  For some reason the teachers I had in school were always teaching us about things that would very shortly bring about the end of the world.

I remember being taught that there's not enough food in America to support 300 million people.  Now we have 350 million and we're mostly fat.

I remember being taught that the world would run out of water by 1985.  Chicago just had its wettest summer in decades.

I remember being taught that the next ice age was at hand and that the earth was in danger of freezing.  Now we're all aquiver about global warming.

I remember being taught that we'd all die of cancer because of the ozone hole.  Now kids ask, "The ozone what?"

Latch-key kids, crack babies, MSG, and Pac-Man were all signs of the apocalypse.

In summary, every bad thing that could happen would, and we'd all be dead before we finished puberty.  The best scientists of the day firmly believed in Global Cooling/New Ice Age and it made the covers of the news magazines.  Maybe the nuns exposed us to it all in order to give us another reason to pray.

I don't think it was just the nuns who were caught up in environmental hysteria back then.  Check out the "Say Good-Bye Gallery" painted along the railroad viaduct along West Hubbard Street at North Union Street.

The faded and peeling paint proclaims, "Dedicated to our endangered species."  On the wall are murals showing many of the creatures that people in 1974 thought they would shortly have to live without.

It's hard to make out most of the critters, but it provides an interesting glimpse into the mindset of people at the time.  It also shows how nature ultimately wins all battles, since there are trees now blocking where the mural was painted.

Of course, as man can destroy, man can also preserve.  And while I don't go in for a lot of the "green" hype that's thrown around these days, I am above average in my environmental responsibility according to Al Gore's web site.

Let's just hope mountain lions and coyotes really don't start marching down Wacker Drive in search of human blood because there's no water in the prairies for them to drink.

We're Breathing What?

Chicago has far more beautiful blue sky days than any city in which I've ever lived.  Especially in the spring and autumn, it can seem like an enchanted place.

But Chicago is far from pristine when it comes to its air.  Much of the time it looks beautiful because we're standing on the ground, looking up into the blue sky.  But the air around us is filthy.

Here's a web site which shows the air quality from day-to-day: Illinois Air Quality Index

And here's a photo illustrating the problem:

That slice of muck at the surface is polluted air.  At the time this photo was taken, the Air Quality Index was at 126, which is "Unhealthy for sensitive groups."  But if you were to go outside and look up, it would just appear to be an ordinary overcast day.  The true extent of Chicagoland's pollution only unveils itself when you're up in the good air looking down on the bad.