BY FRANCINE KNOWLES fknowles@suntimes.com Dec 6, 2010 12:09AM
Rahm Emanuel unveiled a proposal to make 21,000 residential and commercial buildings in Chicago energy efficient next year by creating a $10 million fund that he projected will leverage an additional $100 million and create more than 400 jobs.
Emanuel, who is seeking to become the next mayor of Chicago, said the initial $10 million would come in part from unused federal stimulus funds. It also would come from reallocating community development block grant money and economic development and environmental program funding away from inefficient programs, he said. The $100 million would come from public and private funds, including money from utility companies that must be spent on increasing energy efficiency, he said.
The funds would be used for investments in weatherization and energy efficiency upgrades in 12 of the least energy efficient areas of the city, to be identified as so-called target zones, Emanuel said.
He said the effort would create construction jobs and boost sales at home improvement businesses.
He added it would reduce harmful carbon emissions by more than 5,000 tons, which is the equivalent of cutting gas consumption by 618,000 gallons annually.
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