Edgewater Environmental Plan finalist on 2010 Mayor Daley's Green Works Competion

On October 26th, 2010 the EEP will participate in the finals for the Mayor Daley's Green Works Competition.
Carmen Vidal-Hallett, EcoVidalDesign President is the co-chair of the transportation and planning and development team with architects Thom Greene and John Aquilina.

The Plan recognizes that individuals are part of a larger community and that the community is in turn part of a larger whole. Therefore it seeks to encourage individuals to shift behaviors toward sustainability with the belief that these shifts in practices are the groundwork for a larger transformation.
Through the development of a Comprehensive Neighborhood Master Plan (CNMP) using best practices in urban and architectural design the role of Planning and Development is to create a holistic vision and overall framework for all sustainable practices and future development in the Edgewater community in collaboration with community partners, residents, businesses and public officials. The CNMP will stimulate long-term, sustainable development in the community by incorporating current best practices in urban planning and architectural design.

Carmen Vidal-Hallett brought to the team her 12 years of experience as a planner for the City of Chicago Planning and Development as well as best sustainable urban development practices in Brazil to help create a truly environmental plan that could be a model for other neighborhoods in Chicago.

The idea is that eventually, the plan will inspire a City wide environmental plan that emphasizes land use related to transit oriented development (TOD), historic preservation, protect and create open space and bring a more pedestrian environmental environment. The vision of the plan includes from green and energy efficient buildings to storm water management through native perennial rain gardens, green roofs and bio swales that will help alleviate sewer overflowing and basement flood.

Design Evanston 2010 Award

Carmen Vidal-Hallett receives Design Evanston Award as part of the Urban Works Architeture team and with EDAW for the Evanston Lakefront Plan on October 14th, 2010.

Design Evanston identifies significant aesthetic and functional improvements in the Evanston community and recognizes them with our annual Design Evanston Awards. Specifically designed not to be self-serving for design professionals, the awards are presented to owners responsible for the design excellence of local projects.

These awards may be presented for new commercial construction, additions, adaptive re-use, multi-family structures, sensitive in-fill, or single family residences, among other categories. In addition awards may be granted in urban design, interior design, landscape design, signage/graphic design and merchandising design.