The environmental nonprofit got a platinum rating for renovating its headquarters, making Chicago the only U.S. city besides Los Angeles with two such highly rated "green" office buildings. The city-owned Chicago Center for Green Technology is the other.

CNT celebrated Tuesday with a reception, remarks by Mayor Daley and self-guided tours of its Wicker Park building.

The award is from the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) system, which noted that CNT's rehab will cut energy bills by an estimated 60 percent.

CNT does research, policy advocacy and projects to promote environmentally friendly communities. CEO Kathryn Tholin said, "We wanted to actually live that mission through this renovation, and show other organizations that you do not need an enormous budget or a new building to become green."

The $1.18 million makeover was done for $82 per square foot, less than an ordinary rehab, and reused 90 percent of the building shell.

Desks, shelving and kitchen cabinets are made from wheat straw instead of wood. One staircase is made from 120-year-old Douglas fir recovered from an old Chicago brewery.

Bicyclists allowed to clean up

Rain on the roof trickles into a ground-level garden of deep-rooted prairie plants. The parking lot is permeable. "The only thing going down the sewer is water from the sinks and toilets, which are low-flow," said CNT president Scott Bernstein.

Ninety-five percent of the building's electricity is from wind power, which comes into the building on ComEd's grid, with the rest from the sun via solar panels on the roof.

Although going platinum isn't an athletic feat for CNT, it has a shower because its 60 staffers do get their share of exercise. In the summer about half of them bicycle to work -- a factor in the LEED award.

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Updated : 7/3/2007