Illinois Green Alliance

Nicole Burmingham's students at Deer Path Middle School conducted an energy audit through the Illinois Green Schools Project and noticed something: the school's fluorescent emergency lights were wasting energy and money. So they partnered with the school facilities team to gather real energy data and design a solution.

Operation Light Swap will retrofit nine fluorescent emergency lights with LED troffers using a $1,000 Student Innovation Grant. The strategic upgrade will use about 1/3rd the amount of energy, save the school $241 in energy costs, and reduce carbon emissions by 2 tons per year.

But here's the brilliant part: the students designed this as a "proof of concept." By upgrading nine lights now, they're creating evidence to convince administration to replace the remaining emergency lights on campus. This shows how small wins can drive systemic change.

Congratulations to the Deer Path team for their data-driven leadership! Thank you to DocuSign for supporting these young problem-solvers and to the Illinois Green Alliance for connecting EcoRise with teachers in Illinois. Together, ! 💡 Lake Forest School District 67

🎉🎂Today marks Sondra Morin's two-year anniversary at Illinois Green Alliance!🎂🎉

As our Development Manager, Sondra has the crucial responsibility of leading our event sponsorship initiatives, growing our membership, and fostering relationships with stakeholders from across the industry. Sondra's work revolves around building new connections and strengthening existing ones, a role she shines in. Her efforts enable us to throw signature events like the Getting to Zero Tech Forum as well as maintain our day-to-day efforts.

Thanks for helping us keep the lights on Sondra!

Last week, Chicago's green building experts fought hard to be named the unofficial top minds in sustainability at our 4th annual Green Minds Think Alike Trivia Night! Congrats to the team Chaos Champions for taking home first place and bragging rights for the year!

We also had another big winner last night — our entire community. Through your support and generosity, we raised over $15,000 for the Illinois Green Schools Project. These funds will support student-led sustainability projects in schools across the state!

Shoutout to our event emcee Kariem Hashem and the rest of the Fundraising Committee for their hard work planning this event: Derek Krantz, Clayton Artz, Asli Topuzlu, Nicholas Villarreal, and Gabi Dwyer!

A special thank you to our event sponsors, IMEG, Mannington Commercial, TYLin, The Prime Group, and Beyond hlw! Lastly, thank you to our fantastic hosts at Haymarket Brewery.

These are the kids dreaming of a future where high-performance buildings are feasible, affordable, and so commonplace that every building contributes to a sustainable and resilient future for all communities. Meet our staff and learn more about what they do to advance our mission!

Last chance to show off your sustainability knowledge! We only have a handful of tickets left for our annual Green Minds Think Alike Trivia Night tomorrow, May 20 at Haymarket Brewery!

Your ticket includes two complimentary drinks, pub snacks, and a night of green trivia and networking. No need to create a team ahead of the event, either—invite a friend or come solo to show off your sustainability knowledge, support the Illinois Green Schools Project, and learn something new. Plus, enter into a raffle for the chance to win one of four incredible prizes, including four Cubs vs. Rockies Tickets in the Catalina Club + Food, Drinks, & Parking!

Trivia will be hosted this year by Auxiliary Board Member, Kariem Hashem! Shoutout to Kariem and the rest of the Fundraising Committee for their hard work planning this event: Derek Krantz, Clayton Artz, Asli Topuzlu, Nicholas Villarreal, and Gabi Dwyer!

Don't miss the chance to meet new folks within the green building community and enjoy some friendly competition. Register here: https://www.illinoisgreenalliance.org/green-trivia

Thank you to our event sponsors,IMEG, Commercial,TYLin , The Prime Group, and BEYOND.

Want to hear how schools throughout Illinois are finding creative and impactful ways to prioritize sustainability across their school cultures, educational programming, and physical spaces?

Join us for the Illinois Green Schools Celebration this Thursday, May 21!

This event celebrates schools at every level on their journey to sustainability and we are excited for the chance to showcase a wide range of projects.

We'll share highlights and hear presentations from the Illinois Green Schools Project participants that have been hard at work identifying, planning, and implementing sustainability projects that span topics like cafeteria food waste, student climate education, energy reduction efforts, and more.

Register here: https://www.illinoisgreenalliance.org/2026-green-schools-celebration

Bragging rights aren't the only thing up for grabs at next week's Green Minds Think Alike Trivia Night!

We've also got some awesome raffle prizes including:
⚾️Four (4) Cubs vs. Rockies Tickets in the Catalina Club + Food, Drinks, & Parking
🏟️Two (2) Chicago Fire vs. Columbus Crew On-Field Tickets + Food, Drinks, & Parking
🎟️Two (2) Red Sox vs. White Sox Tickets & Four (4) Chicago Fire vs. Charlotte FC Tickets
🍽️Two (2) $100 Gift Certificates to Lettuce Entertain You Restaurants + 3-Months Free WasteNot Composting

Your ticket to Trivia Night also includes 2 complimentary drinks, pub snacks, and a night of green trivia and networking. No need to create a team ahead of the event, either—invite a friend or come solo to show off your sustainability knowledge, support the Illinois Green Schools Project, and learn something new.

Don't miss the chance to meet new folks within the green building community and enjoy some friendly competition. Register here: https://www.illinoisgreenalliance.org/green-trivia

Thank you to our event sponsors, IMEG, Mannington Commercial, TYLin , The Prime Group, and Beyond hlw.

Spring is in full swing, and so is energy and building policy in Illinois. All eyes are on the state legislature's landmark proposal to regulate the booming data center industry. Take a look at this and other efforts that will shape how we build, power, and live in Illinois for years to come.
Read more here: https://lnkd.in/g5FCM97t