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Sears Tower To Get An Eco-Friendly Facelift

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Jun 24, 2009 11:12 am US/Mountain

Sears Tower To Get An Eco-Friendly Facelift

New Green Hotel Also To Be Constructed

CHICAGO (CBS) ― The Sears Tower -- soon to be renamed the Willis Tower – will undergo a $350 million green remodeling effort at the 110-story skyscraper, including wind turbines, green roofs and solar panels, CBS station WBBM-TV reports.

Owners and architects said Wednesday that the plan will reduce electricity use in the building by 80 percent and save 24 million gallons of water a year.

Plans also include construction of a 50-story, 500-room luxury hotel next door. The hotel will be constructed at Wacker Drive and Jackson Boulevard, and will be designed by Adrian Smith, who was also chief designer of the recently finished Trump International Hotel & Tower.

The new hotel was designed for a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Gold rating, and will be one of the most sustainable hotels in the city, the release said. It will be highly convenient for building tenants who now deal with a relative lack of hotel space in the West Loop, the release said.

In addition, there will be a new park at Wacker Drive and Adams Street, with new landscaping and seating. The granite wall that now graces the Adams Street side of the Sears Tower will be replaced by an interactive digital display, glass storefronts, and trees that will be planted on a landscaped terrace, according to a Sears Tower news release.

The Sears Tower already meets LEED criteria, and will go above and beyond the standards used by the United States Green Building Council, the release said.

Smith's firm will replace the windows to improve energy efficiency, install new gas boilers that use fuel cell technology, modernize the tower's 104 high-speed elevators and 15 escalators, and upgrade restroom fixtures and landscaping systems to save water.

The building will also use a condensation recovery system to recycle water, and use "daylight harvesting" to automatically dim electric lights based on the relative amount of sunlight, the release said.

Wind turbines, solar hot water panels, and green roofs will also be tested on the building. The green roofs will be among the tallest in the world.

Education is also a part of the new plan. Inside the tower, there will be a new Sustainable Technology Learning Center, designed to teach energy and money-saving tips to visitors and tourists.

Building officials say the project should take five years to complete and create 3,600 jobs.

The famous skyscraper is to be renamed Willis Tower next month. 

The Sears Tower made news earlier this year when its owners announced a plan to give it a silver paint job over the existing black exterior, which would cost $50 million or more, but might help its LEED rating.

The building has already become a leader of large-scale recycling in skyscrapers.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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© MMIX, CBS Television Stations Inc. All Rights Reserved.