Join us on September 29^th for a day of discovering the thriving, resilient, sustainable community we have in Oak Park and River Forest!! The tour will consist of 25 sites in four different categories: Energy, Waste, Water, and Food. Learn more about the Energy track below, or download the full tour schedule now.

Oak Park Home Highlights Renewable Geothermal Heating & Cooling

214 S Elmwood Ave, Oak Park Sites #1 & #5 on map Tours available at 9:30am and 2:15pm

40-year residents, living in an historic Oak Park home, the Robinets, are showing their environmental stewardship in lots of different ways. Over the past six years they have installed an energy-efficient metal white roof, skylights, a tank-less hot water heater, and insulation in the walls. Last year they also installed a geothermal heating and cooling system which will reduce carbon dioxide put into the air by a quarter of a milion pounds over the next 50 years.

Learn How to Increase Home Energy Efficiency

824 Woodbine Ave, Oak Park Site #2 on map Demo at 10:45am FREE! NOTE: Workshop repeats in River Forest at 3:30pm

Learn about this great opportunity to increase your home's energy efficiency, save money and make your home more comfortable. Homeowners that choose the air-sealing and insulation option, are eligible for an instant rebate of 70% up to $1750. Program ends May 2013 so check it out now! Get more detail about the program in this related article. Program ends May 2013 so check it out now!

The Sun Provides 70% of the Energy to Heat the Water for this Home

1101 Wenonah, Oak Park #3 on map Tour available at 10:45am

What’s grey and blue and makes over 60,000 gallons of hot water a year? Joe’s solar thermal panels! The six solar collectors on his Oak Park home provide 70% of the hot water his family needs each year and also supply heat to his basement through an independent solar space heater. Come see for yourself how the Sun can do this for you and how the State and Federal government can pay up to 60% of the costs!

Explore Healthy, Eco-Friendly Transportation Options

105 S Marion St, Oak Park Featuring Green Line Wheels, Active Transportation and I-Go Cars #4 on the map Workshop at 1:00pm KID FRIENDLY

Green Line Wheels will provide training in biking, Active Transportaion Alliance will share information on initiatives to create safer streets to make biking and walking healthy, affordable and fun. I-Go cars will show how it is possible to live in OP/RF without owning a car and will have one of their new electric cars for rides.

50 Ways to Green Your Life Living in an Apartment or Condo

166 N Humphrey Ave, #1N, Oak Park Site # 6 on map Tour available at 2:15 pm FREE

The little things count too, and lots of little things add up to a big difference. These mostly low cost or no cost initiatives span all of the focus areas of the tour including water conservation, local healthy food, efficient energy use and lots of reduce-reuse-recycle. We'll share our strategies and we hope you'll share yours!

Learn How to Increase Home Energy Efficiency

1501 Park Ave, River Forest Site # 7 on map Demo available at 3:30 pm FREE NOTE: Workshop repeats at 10:45 in Oak Park

Program ends May 2013 so check it out now!

Solar Powered Electricity

525 N East Ave, Oak Park Site #8 on map Tour available at 3:30

The Sun Provides 50% of the Electricity Needs of this Home. When Bill read Thomas Friedman's, "Hot, Flat and Crowded," he wanted to do more than I already was. He called several solar companies and installed 21 photovotaic(PV) panels on his flat roof in August, 2009. Now 3 years later they have generated 14,000 kwatts of electricity. This is about half of their electric needs. Time to break even is about 12-15 years at current rates.