Sustainability and Support Services Archives

Forest Preserve District of DuPage County – Developing a Clean Energy, Resiliency, and Sustainability Plan

The Forest Preserve District of DuPage County has partnered with Delta Institute (Delta) and ECT to develop a plan to advance sustainability, climate action, and resiliency. We are developing a plan that will be comprehensive, equitable, partnership-driven, actionable, fundable, and measurable. Ultimately, we believe this plan will position the District as a regional leader in advancing sustainability.

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Community-Led Planning to Reduce Shoreline Flooding in the South Shore Neighborhood of Chicago

Delta Institute (Delta) is working with local groups and public agencies to complete in-depth community engagement centered around shoreline resilience planning and implementation for the South Shore neighborhood of Chicago. For years this community has been buffeted by extreme weather and Lake Michigan events, and a comprehensive, cohesive community planning process is essential.

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2021 City of Chicago Waste Strategy

The City of Chicago has the opportunity to implement strategies to tackle waste and materials management that impact our economy, environment, and citizens every day. These strategies offer opportunities to reduce waste; increase diversion through reuse, recycling, and composting; reduce costs; and increase economic and environmental justice opportunities. Delta Institute (Delta) was hired by the City of Chicago Office of the Mayor to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the entire municipal waste system and its directly related impacts on the community. As a core part of our efforts, Delta developed a holistic, pragmatic roadmap with short-term recommendations for 2021-2022 to re-envision what materials management in Chicago could look like, while ultimately turning waste into resource.

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Economic Equity via Community-Led Redevelopment in Little Village, a Chicago Prize Finalist Project

Through a robust partnership between the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization and Delta Institute (Delta), our initiative created a new community hub, called the Centro de Solidaridad Mi Villita, to provide 100,000+ Chicagoans with the means to create a robust local economy based on solidarity and self-determination.

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Waukegan Beneficial Use of Dredged Material Project

Recreational beaches around the Great Lakes have experienced significant erosion due to high water levels, more intense storms, and other conditions. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) recently selected six sites within four municipalities to be eligible for pilot participation and receiving sand for restoring beaches. Under this federal pilot project, each of the municipal park districts must decide whether they wish to receive the dredged sand from outside Waukegan Harbor. To support these communities, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources’ Coastal Management Program provided funding to Delta Institute (Delta) and GEI Consultants.

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Steel City Salvage: Deconstruction and Economic Opportunity in Gary

Delta Institute (Delta) has worked within Gary for years—decades even—with dozens of local community partners who are essential to our collaborative efforts’ success. Many of our supporters are familiar with Delta’s efforts to create Steel City Salvage, our deconstruction project that saves reclaimed materials from vacant buildings going to landfill—instead selling them to spur economic development within the City of Gary. We are committed to ensuring that materials from Gary benefit Gary, and that operations remain within the City to provide another route for ongoing economic development.

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Storywood: Utilizing Reclaimed and Unique Wood in Design and Architecture

Delta Institute (Delta) created the StoryWood Toolkit as a guide for designers to identify, evaluate, and share the most interesting parts of a certain type of wood’s back story, and, more specifically, it will help to align material choices to achieve certifications, such as LEED or Living Building Challenge. In short, this toolkit provides designers with the information and tools needed to navigate the universe of wood products and find the unique and sustainable material that will meaningfully resonate with their vision for a finished design.

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Reimagining the Shenango Coke Plant Site outside Pittsburgh, PA

Delta Institute (Delta) has worked with numerous communities who are faced with a closed--or closing--coal power plant. These sites have unique needs for redevelopment, ranging from environmental remediation to replacement of lost tax revenue and jobs. Delta facilitated a coalition of community groups located outside Pittsburgh, PA to create Guiding Principles for sustainable redevelopment of the closed Shenango Coke Plant property located on Neville Island, located on the Ohio River.

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Merchandise Mart LEED Certification

Delta Institute (Delta) led Merchandise Mart through initial LEED Operations and Maintenance Certification at the silver level in 2007 and recertification at the gold level in 2013. These efforts included assistance for the LEED Commercial Interiors Certification for the Designer Lounge. Through this work Delta has helped the Merchandise Mart establish waste diversion, tracking and monitoring strategies, including developing a scale and bar code system for measuring waste daily by location. We continue our collaboration today to reduce the Mart’s overall waste footprint.

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Rethinking the Waste System at the Field Museum

Delta Institute (Delta) secured funding from Cook County to perform an energy audit and LEED assessment of the Museum. As a non-standard building type, the Museum was one of the most challenging LEED projects Delta has pursued. It achieved LEED Gold certification and received the Governor’s Sustainability Award in 2015.

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Demystifying Midwestern Building Material Markets for Reuse and Revenue

Delta Institute’s (Delta's) Demystifying Waste report provides data to the private and public sector to decrease the disposal rate of reusable materials—and save these valuable supplies from landfills—and increase the capacity of local and state governments to adopt policies encouraging building material reuse and recycling with the recognition of local economic benefits.

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St. Louis Demolition and Deconstruction Technical Assistance

Delta Institute (Delta) is an expert with construction and demolition waste reduction, recycling, reuse, policy and economic development. The City of St. Louis, St. Louis Development Corporation, the Missouri Environmental Improvement and Energy Resources Authority, and Region 7 EPA selected Delta Institute to revise its demolition handbook, develop specifications for deconstruction, train contractors around building material reuse, and plan a deconstruction pilot program.

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Phytoremediating Vacant Industrial Land in Gary, Indiana

With support from the U.S. Forest Service Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and the Legacy Foundation, Delta Institute (Delta) partnered with the City of Gary and Greenprint Partners to transform the once thriving site of the five-acre Bear Brand Hosiery Co. stocking factory into a park by planting hybrid poplar trees to improve soil quality. Plans for the vacant, degraded site include the installation of public art and landscaping.

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Supporting Sustainability at the Field Museum

As part of Delta Institute's (Delta’s) work with iconic buildings, we have partnered with Chicago’s landmark Field Museum of Natural History on a series of projects that improve the building’s energy efficiency, renewable energy, waste diversion, and building operations since 2013. Delta continues to partner with the museum to achieve its sustainability goals.

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Cook County Deconstruction Training

Delta Institute (Delta) conducted a training for the Cook County Sheriff’s office on sustainable deconstruction practices, enabling the County to train inmates in deconstruction and use paid inmate crews to deconstruct hazardous structures in Southern Cook County and structures managed by the Cook County Forest Preserve. The program will pave the way for inmate trainees to become certified as Deconstruction Workers through the Building Materials Reuse Association, providing a pathway into the workforce for individuals with significant barriers to employment.

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Forest Preserve District of DuPage County – Developing a Clean Energy, Resiliency, and Sustainability Plan

Community-Led Planning to Reduce Shoreline Flooding in the South Shore Neighborhood of Chicago

2021 City of Chicago Waste Strategy

Economic Equity via Community-Led Redevelopment in Little Village, a Chicago Prize Finalist Project

Waukegan Beneficial Use of Dredged Material Project

Steel City Salvage: Deconstruction and Economic Opportunity in Gary

Storywood: Utilizing Reclaimed and Unique Wood in Design and Architecture

Reimagining the Shenango Coke Plant Site outside Pittsburgh, PA

Merchandise Mart LEED Certification

Rethinking the Waste System at the Field Museum

Demystifying Midwestern Building Material Markets for Reuse and Revenue

St. Louis Demolition and Deconstruction Technical Assistance

Phytoremediating Vacant Industrial Land in Gary, Indiana

Supporting Sustainability at the Field Museum

Cook County Deconstruction Training

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