Services

Pollution Prevention & Energy Efficiency

Technical Assistance

Our engineers provide technical assessments and investment-grade audits to help companies, municipalities, and institutions save money by conserving energy, reducing the use of toxic chemicals, and saving, treating and reusing water. (more)...

Financing

We develop and structure financing for pollution prevention and energy efficiency measures. The Delta Institute provides direct loans, develops efficiency contracts, and facilitates third-party financing from financial partners. (more)...

Carbon Offset Aggregation

The Delta Institute is a member of the Chicago Climate Exchange and is an approved aggregator. Our specialists help landowners, farmers, and foresters aggregate carbon sequestration credits and sell them on the Chicago Climate Exchange’s trading platform. (more)...

Program Development

The Delta Institute works with a variety of project partners to develop pollution prevention strategies and programs that target specific problems. We help industry and municipalities negotiate pollution prevention agreements on specific pollutants such as mercury. We also design comprehensive pollution prevention programs to help municipalities meet environmental policy objectives. (more)...

Policy Development

The Delta Institute works with units of government to develop ordinances and programs that reduce toxic use. For example, we are collaborating with the City of Chicago to develop an ordinance and comprehensive program to prevent pollution through green purchasing and supply management. (more)...

Green Purchasing

Delta is proud to announce the formation of two new regional green purchasing networks to help facilities reduce their use of toxic materials, use resources more efficiently, and reduce solid waste.

In the Chicago area, we have joined with the City of Chicago, State of Illinois, and several members of the National Association of Purchasing Managers to form the Chicago Region Green Purchasing Network. This new technical resource supports purchasing managers at state agencies, municipalities, institutions, and businesses who want to buy green. (more)...

In Michigan, we are working with the Sustainable Research Group to form the Western Michigan Sustainable Purchasing Consortium. (more)...

Brownfield Redevelopment

Financing

The Delta Institute provides connections to flexible financing for environmentally friendly businesses and brownfield redevelopment projects in low-income communities in Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana. An allocation of New Markets Tax Credits made it possible for us and our partners to establish a fund to provide debt financing and forgivable loans for pre-development through redevelopment.(more)...

Site Identification & Economic Incentive Packaging

Our staff tracks brownfield and infill sites with industrial and commercial reuse potential in areas that offer economic incentives. We often know about available sites that do not appear in conventional real estate listings. We work with government and community development partners to package economic incentives in targeted areas.

Site Assessment & Pre-Development Problem Solving

The Delta Institute manages environmental assessments and solves environmental and title problems that take time, patience and expertise. We can also assist developers in navigating new green building requirements.

Site Control

As a non-profit, we can take more risks on brownfield projects than many for-profit developers. We take title to properties, manage clean-ups, and secure economic incentives in advance of redevelopment. (more)...

Redevelopment Strategies

Sites in low-income areas may need planning, capacity-building or other front-end work to create new economic incentives or end users. Delta works with community development partners to design land use plans and strategies for sustainable redevelopment of a commercial or industrial area. We can create specialized organizations to spearhead the redevelopment of multiple sites, or design innovative reuse strategies for hard-to-develop sites. (more)...

Policy

The Delta Institute works with other non-profit organizations to influence public policy to expand the role of non-profits in brownfield redevelopment and to build the case for new financing sources. (more)...

Green Development

Technical Assistance

The Delta Institute provides technical assistance for green building design, construction and maintenance, using strategies ranging from energy-efficient lighting to resource-efficient landscaping.

Training

The Delta Institute offers training in many aspects of green development, including LEED certification, Clean Air Counts, the Nuts and Bolts of Brownfield Redevelopment, Energy Performance Contracting, and Environmental Assessment.

LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) Consulting

We have LEED Accredited Professionals on staff to help you design, build and operate a LEED building. We also manage the registration and certification process for any LEED project.

Watershed Planning

Strategy Development & Implementation

We work with government agencies and stakeholders to design and implement strategies for protecting watersheds in the Great Lakes basin. We work on large watersheds, such as Lake Michigan and Lake Erie, as well as Great Lakes tributaries. We help identify opportunities to reduce loadings of toxics, nutrients, and sediments, and we address governance challenges in multi-jurisdictional watersheds. (more)...

Ecosystem-Based Environmental Management Systems (Eco-EMS)

The Delta Institute helps companies and municipalities evaluate their facilities’ environmental impact on local watersheds and reduce adverse impacts by implementing or adjusting environmental management systems. (more)...

Economic & Community Development

Economic Engines

The Delta Institute is committed to building capacity for sustainable economic development in the Great Lakes region. We work with community partners through our sustainable business development initiatives to identify development opportunities, such as urban agriculture and composting, green business opportunities, local purchasing and eco-industrial partnerships. (more)...

Low-Income Housing Development

The Delta Institute works with communities throughout the region to ensure that those who need it have access to affordable housing in good neighborhoods. We provide technical assistance to create sustainable affordable housing that is energy-efficient and provides healthy indoor air quality. We have created a model program to finance lead abatement in low-income housing, in partnership with the Illinois Lead Safe Housing Task Force, City of Chicago and the Delta Redevelopment Funds. (more)...

Business Planning

Delta helps create social ventures and new community-based business activity. We have extensive experience in establishing new not-for-profit organizations and social ventures, structuring projects and formulating business plans. (more)...

Community Capacity Building

The Delta Institute can enhance the ability of municipalities and community development organizations to pursue sustainable economic development. We assess community development strengths and help find resources to fill gaps. We help form partnerships to create jobs, redevelop brownfields, foster economic development, and keep residents active in community redevelopment. (more)...

Redevelopment Project Management

The Delta Institute has extensive project management experience and can work with your organization to design and implement redevelopment projects. (more)...

Policy Development & Training

Training

Delta offers training programs and workshops on a range of environmental and redevelopment issues. We tailor courses to the needs of government, community organizations, and the private sector. Our current training programs and workshops include Great Lakes Basic Training, Watershed Planning and Implementation, Stormwater Best Management Practices (BMP) Training, Ecosystem-based Environmental Management Systems (ECO-EMS), Green Development, LEED Certification, Nuts and Bolts of Brownfield Redevelopment, Energy Performance Contracting, and Environmental Assessments. (more)...

Environmental Quality

Delta helps federal, state, and local units of government develop sound policies for addressing environmental challenges. Current policy development programs focus on water quantity and quality, pollution prevention, and air quality. (more)...

Community & Economic Development

Private Sector

The Delta Institute helps companies design environmental management policies and programs that reduce adverse impacts on local ecosystems and enhance environmental quality where their facilities are located. (more)...