I was reading Small Business Week, and was elated when i read that one of the companies being profiled was a Chicago company, and that the reason it was being profiled is because it went green.

Christy Webber Landscapes, has been in operation since 1990,has 50 employees, and is an established and ever growing Chicago outfit. Christy Webber does the landscape work for O’Hare International Airport, one of the nations biggest and busiest airports.

They were motivated to go green, when city officials approached owner Christy, to take a derelict site and develop it for them. She proposed an eco-industrial park and she was awarded the development project, with stipulations that the city would get the proceeds from further developments. She then recruited green Chicago architects, Farr Associates, and together they have built a building which meets LEED standards.

They have incorporated the following green elements in the building design:

• maple trees, grasses, and juniper bushes placed on roof for insulation
• roof storm water management, wherein the water is collected in trucks and used for nursery plants
• wind-powered turbine
• solar-water heater

The company plans to make additional environmental changes, such as converting its trucks to bio-diesel and adding a composting facility.

For more details on Christy Webber Landscapes in Chicago, visit their website.