City Profiles / Large Cities / Chicago, IL

Chicago, Illinois

Home to the world's first skyscraper, today Chicago is rising to the forefront in green architecture, boasting more Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified buildings than any other city in the U.S. Chicago's distinctive eco-friendly design feature is the green roof—a landscaped rooftop that cleans and retains rainwater, reduces the urban heat island effect, provides insulation, and improves air quality.

Inspired by Europe's landscaped rooftops, Mayor Richard Daley set out to green the roof of Chicago's City Hall in 2001, when there were only two contractors in the U.S. qualified to do the job. The project succeeded, inspiring many more in Chicago and other U.S. cities. Now Chicago has 300 buildings topped with vegetation and it has mapped the city's hottest spots to concentrate the cooling roofs where they are needed most. Green roof contractors have also multiplied, with more than two dozen in Chicago alone.

In September 2008, Mayor Daley launched the Climate Action Plan, a detailed outline for reducing the city's greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent below 1990 levels by 2020, and 80 percent by 2050. It also targets the completion of 6,000 rooftop gardens by 2020. “It's aggressive but doable,” says Suzanne Malec-McKenna, head of Chicago's Department of Environment. The detailed plan has served as a model for climate action for cities across the country.

The good news about green roofs for other cities? Green roofs tolerate any climate, work best with native plants and are eco-friendly additions to skyscrapers, industrial buildings, residential complexes—even single-family homes whose roofs have a gentle pitch.