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New Sculpture Celebrates Sustainability

A new piece of public art, One Man’s Trash… Don’t Waste – Instead Create!, has been installed at the First Bank & Trust, 4007 Dempster Street, in Skokie, to enhance their new, “green” branch. Artist Mitch Levin built the 2,100-pound, six-and-one-half-foot-high, Earth-shaped sculpture from found materials. The building was designed and constructed to achieve U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) LEED gold certification, verified by the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI).

The building’s design features include a geothermal heating system; a “green” roof that diminishes the heat-island effect and absorbs rainwater to reduce runoff; water-efficient plumbing; daylight-harvesting windows; LED lighting fixtures; and low-VOC-emitting paints, sealant and carpeting.

The branch site, easily accessible to public transportation, required First Bank & Trust to remediate a brownfield site (formerly occupied by a gas station) before constructing the building. During construction, 90 percent of all construction waste was recycled and diverted from landfills. Twenty percent of all the materials used came from recycled sources and 20 percent were sourced from within 500 miles.


For more information, visit FirstBT.com.