The Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) has a unique mission: to invent and implement new tools and methods that create livable urban communities for everyone. For more than 20 years, CNT has been working at the cutting edge of sustainable development, long before the term was coined. In cooperation with its partners, CNT invents programs and strategies that simultaneously achieve environmental goals and build strong communities. The CNT promotes livable, sustainable communities where the undervalued resources and inherent advantages of the urban environment, both built and natural, are captured to benefit everyone–individuals, communities and regions. Such programs includeI-GO Car-Sharing, the Location Efficient Mortgage, and the Community Energy Cooperative.

Place, the built and natural environments that shape and sustain our lives, has always been an important idea for CNT for over 25 years, and it is in the context of urban places that CNT understands assets. Even the most outwardly depressed places have real assets, both tangible and intangible–density, good public transit, existing infrastructure, strong community institutions, and the people who live and work there. Assets like these are often improperly valued; in low- and moderate-income communities this is especially true, and hidden and/or undervalued assets abound. Transforming these common assets, CNT believes is the key to solving many of the problems facing regions today. CNT has three interrelated strategies for this transformation:

• Analyzing, framing, and delivering information about the underlying network of systems, particularly economic, that undervalue assets;
• Promoting public policies that build and enhance assets; and
• Creating new ways to capture the value of assets.

In 1987, the Center for Neighborhood Technology decided to move from a leased space in downtown Chicago to a more affordable location in Wicker Park, a transit-friendly neighborhood. Wicker Park has emerged from an artist's haven into one of the most desirable places to live in Chicago. With its heart at Damen and Milwaukee Avenues, Wicker Park is bound by North and Division, and Ashland and Western Avenues. The community is comprised of a blend of tree-lined streets, apartments, and rejuvenated houses and flats. There are a large variety of homes, from stately Victorians to modern low-rise buildings. It offers a mix of small businesses, chic boutiques, galleries, and trendy restaurants. The result is a vibrant, dynamic destination for visitors and residents alike. With a bohemian and European heritage, Wicker Park is one of the city's most desirable destinations for culture and entertainment. Wicker Park maintains an emphasis on performance art, music and theater. It also has many independent art galleries—particularly in the Flat Iron Building–and sculptors, painters, and mixed-media artists. For commuters (many of whom do not need a car), the CTA's Blue Line and the train are only a few blocks away giving them 10-minute access to the Loop, as well as easy access to O'Hare International Airport and the suburbs.

The building was originally selected for the location and other desirable features including the open space next to it, the available parking, and the many amenities within walking distance for the employees. An internal survey also determined that the building was at the nexus of travel patterns of the majority of employees.

CNT eventually purchased the 13,800 square-foot abandoned light industrial building that dates back to the 1920s when it originally served as a textile factory. In 2000, the organization was running out of space, and was faced with a difficult decision. They could sell the building at a profit–but the property would almost certainly be bought by a developer and turned into high-end condos, further fueling the neighborhood's regentrification. Or they could stay and expand into the first floor. CNT not only chose to stay and expand, but to renovate in a manner that would earn it a LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The renovation of an existing historic building also gave CNT an opportunity to "practice what it preaches." CNT's green building project sought to put in place the standard green building elements that LEED outlines, however the outcomes were unique in that their rehab of a former industrial building was completed in a relatively inexpensive manner–even while incorporating demonstration technologies like a new high-efficiency ventilation system and cooling system; and also resulted in a warm and friendly space. The renovation project was completed in October 2003 for $72/sf when the average cost for a new building in Chicago at the time was $160/sf.

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National Institute of Building Sciences