Love ‘em or hate ‘em, big offshore wind turbines are a tiny step closer to becoming a reality in Lake Michigan, thanks to an agreement between the Obama administration and five Great Lakes states. more ›

Illinois led the nation with 404 new wind turbines installed last year, but the wind industry here is in big trouble as Congress whiffs on re-upping a tax credit that had buoyed the blowing boom. more ›

Everyone has wind on their minds today, so we took a look at some of the issues around the big turbines that have sprouted up on the South Side this year. more ›

The New York Times Home and Garden section (yes, we sometimes read the Home & Garden section) checked in yesterday on the West Town home of two Art Institute faculty members, Frances Whitehead and James Elniski, whose West Town home is starting to turn heads. According to the article (which is accompanied with a nice slide show), the couple has approached their home like a conceptual art project, and in so doing, they've pretty much set a new standard for sustainable urban design. more ›

* Before you start commenting, we're just having fun with the topic, we know that Chicago isn't called the Windy City because of the actual wind. more ›

Helmut Jahn is now going to be designing environmentally friendly housing for the poor in Chicago. Scheduled to be built next year on a vacant lot near Cabrini-Green, Jahn's building is environmentally friendly and made of stainless steel and glass. Its shape will be like a Twinkie, very similar to the Illinois Institute of Technology dorms he designed (pictured at the left). It will have rooftop wind turbines and solar panels, as well as a recycling system that collects rainwater and uses it to flush the toilets. more ›