There are two ways—and only two ways—to balance a budget: increase revenue or decrease spending. Whether you’re the treasurer of a co-op board or the President of the United States, those are the only two levers at your disposal. Ene…
Energy efficiency has become a “buzz word” over the past couple years throughout Chicagoland and more and more gadgets and devices have come on the market that are specifically designed to use less energy. Saving energy does a lot more …
We as a culture produce a lot of trash—and not just in the form of reality television shows, late night infomercials and bad romance novels. Whether it’s the candy wrappers we toss into the trash bins outside on the sidewalk, the newspa…
Going green doesn’t have anything to do with choosing a natural paint color for your kitchen, or planting herbs in your community garden. But the phrase can have many different meanings across a broad spectrum. Turning off lights in roo…
With the green movement in full swing across the country, it is not surprising that incorporating energy saving and improved efficiency measures has trickled into condominium development. Today, many buildings in the Chicagoland area p…
The key to achieving savings in your home is a whole-house energy efficiency plan. To take a whole-house approach, view your home as an energy system with interdependent parts. For example, your heating system is not just a furnace—it's…
While most people might catch the flu in the winter or suffer from allergies in the spring, a building’s immune system is continually being tested. An environment that appears “healthy” on the surface could be plagued by invisible, odorl…
Jena Ball couldn't sleep—the noise was deafening and keeping her awake night after night. The racket wasn't coming from the next door neighbors, but instead was emanating from inside her condo wall. "It was bizarre," says Ball. …
As awareness of the environmental impact of consumerism has been increasingly accepted, recycling has grown in popularity throughout the country. Municipalities have approached the issue in varying ways with policies affecting homeowne…
As gasoline prices rise with increasing summer demand, building administrators' attention has turned sharply to the cost of energy, and ways to trim fat from their overall energy budgets. Yet for the nation’s nearly 60 million…