Deerfield ponders rules on ‘green’ projects

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Walgreens Sustainability Manager Jamie Meyers stands in front of 22 yards of solar panels on the rooftop of a building overlooking Interstate 94 at the company's Deerfield headquarters. | Michael Sean Comerford~for Sun-Times Media

Updated: February 27, 2012 8:43AM

Walgreens wants to erect a wind turbine at its headquarters. Three or four Deerfield homes already have solar power. Another three have geothermal heating.

Green, renewable energy is still in its infancy in Deerfield and village officials say they want to start off right, so a renewable energy initiative is being formulated and will be voted upon by trustees in the coming weeks.

“I think this is the future,” said Trustee Mary Meirose Oppenheim, a horticulturist and landscape designer by profession. “But there have been problems in other places. We want it so people can install these things and they won’t be an imposition on their neighbors.”

The proposed ordinance will not inhibit green initiatives by residents and businesses, Oppenheim said, but will require most wind turbines to go to the village’s Plan Commission to get special permission to be built.

“They are all special uses,” said Trustee Thomas Jester, at the Jan. 17 village board meeting. “The Plan Commission will have its hands full.”

Walgreen Co. has a chain-wide green initiative underway, aiming to reduce its energy use by 20 percent by 2020. Just a few weeks ago, its Deerfield headquarters added 22 yards of solar panels, to go along with its electric vehicle charging station.

About 134 Walgreens stores have solar panels and 800 have electric vehicle charging stations, including Buffalo Grove and Highland Park stores. Between 30 and 40 Chicago-area stores have charging stations, according to Vivika Panagiotakakos, a spokeswoman at the company’s Deerfield headquarters.

Walgreens calibrated its solar panels so they wouldn’t cast a glare on Interstate 94 drivers or neighbors of the 200 Wilmot Road headquarters. The panels are being used as test cases for use at individual stores around the country, according to Walgreens Sustainability Manager Jamie Meyers, who is AIA and LEED AP certified.

The wind turbine being considered is in its preliminary stages, Meyers said, but it would also be used as a test project that would have applications for stores.

More turbines and solar panels are being considered for the Deerfield headquarters, Meyers said, and the Deerfield ordinance will help anticipate what other communities might require at future locations.

“We’re monitoring the equipment and seeing what kind of results we get from a given wind zone,” Meyers said. “We’re also going to see what communities are looking for.”

Deerfield trustees listened last week to final changes to the initiative, including a prohibition on horizontal wind turbines in residential areas, which tend to cause shadow flickers. All free standing wind turbines in residential areas would need special use permits. Noise levels cannot exceed 50 decibels on a neighboring property, which is like a normal conversation 15 feet away.

“We felt like it was a good idea to take a look at each and every energy usage in those cases,” said Kathy LeVeque, village associate planner.

The village hall, police department and public works buildings have their own green initiatives. The administrative building for the waste water treatment under construction will be LEED compliant, village officials say, reducing energy consumption by 20 percent and making it eligible for a low-interest state bond.

The village newsletter is on recyclable paper. Public buildings have had many of their bulbs replaced and light sensors installed. The village requires Waste Management to pick up trash just once a week and use trucks run on compressed natural gas.

Deerfield’s Sustainability Committee oversees its efforts and seeks new renewable energy sources, said Jennifer Maltas, assistant to the village manager. Its website outlines all its green initiatives at http://www.deerfield.il.us/residents/greenupdeerfield/default.aspx

Prior to the current proposed initiative, residents and businesses had little guidance on what was permissible, Maltas said.

“They (wind, solar and geothermal resources) weren’t permitted, but they weren’t not permitted, either,” Maltas said.