Chicago’s 1000M High-Rise Balances Striking Design With Sustainable Performance

Few buildings in Chicago stand taller than 1000M, one of the city’s newest high-rise residential complexes. Few are also as luxurious. 

1000M, designed by famed architect Helmut Jahn of the eponymous firm Jahn/ and interior designer Kara Mann, is a 73-story tower with panoramic views of Chicago’s skyline. Prospective residents can choose from the building’s 738 units, ranging from studios to four bedrooms, all trimmed with high-end finishes. The tower also features 80K SF of indoor and outdoor amenity spaces — the most of any residential building in the Windy City.

Beyond its thoughtfully curated residences and amenity offerings, however, the tower’s most distinguished features are its sleek design and sustainable operational achievements, said Benjamin Skelton, CEO at Cyclone Energy Group, the building’s sustainability consultant.

“The building's architecture is very unique, and it's quite stunning,” he said. “It’s the second-tallest building built in Chicago within the past five years. It's already won several architectural, construction and sustainability awards. In the South Loop, it stands largely on its own, making it stand out even more.”

1000M’s Design Progression, Final Product

Original plans for the project were unveiled in 2015, with 1000M being designed as a 421-unit condominium tower. Construction began in 2019 on the foundation, but when the pandemic struck in 2020, construction on the project paused and the design changed. 

In response to the pandemic and shifting market needs, the building’s developers, Time Equities, Oak Capital and JK Equities, decided the project would change to rental apartment units.

“Working with Jahn and the building’s developers, our team modeled the building through several different iterations, advising on how each of the building’s systems performed individually and as a whole,” Skelton said. 

Energy-Efficient Features 

1000M was ultimately delivered in 2024, and all aspects of the building fit harmoniously together, Skelton said. Most prominently, the tower’s design features a high-performance facade system.

Due to the building’s location and towering height on S. Michigan Avenue — adjacent to Grant Park and Lake Michigan — 1000M receives direct sunlight most hours of the day. While this complements the impressive views, it can cause myriad energy concerns for the building, such as excessive heat gain or loss, or high energy consumption. 

Considering these variables, the glass selection had to be as energy-efficient as possible, blocking unwanted glare and heat gain while still allowing plenty of natural light to filter through the glass. Through modeling and continual discussion with the architects at Jahn, a solution was reached that met all the performance and design criteria. 

“The energy-efficiency windows also help with occupant comfort,” Skelton said. “Because the windows perform so well, residents can enjoy their space without having to keep the shades down all the time.”

According to Skelton, 1000M’s HVAC system was also intentionally designed to respond to the building’s architectural elements. 

“The HVAC system that serves 1000M is a heat pump-based system, so it’s a very energy-efficient source of heating and cooling for the building,” he said. “Once the building was finished, we rated the building using the Energy Star system. It performed with a score over 78, which is excellent for a multifamily property.”

Additional Sustainability Efforts

Most of the materials used in the building had sustainable aspects to them — everything from the concrete used to make the building’s core to the paints and sealants.

“The paints, sealants and coatings used in this project contained low or no amounts of volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, which is really impressive,” Skelton said. “McHugh Construction, the construction manager for the project, diverted more than 70% of all construction waste on-site towards recycling. This is not necessarily the standard in projects of this magnitude. They really went above and beyond.”

In addition, 40% of all interior construction materials had an Environmental Product Declaration, or an EPD. This is essentially a report card, detailing how the product was made and whether or not it contains harmful chemicals.  

“That's a pretty high percentage of materials that have this declaration for one project,” Skelton said.

Other health and wellness-related features at 1000M include a top-floor wintergarden space, otherwise dubbed the “greenhouse in the sky,” a 10th-floor zen garden and a 10K SF private health club with a fitness center, basketball court, personal training, massage therapy and more. All of these elements contribute to a unique, sustainable lifestyle at 1000M.

“At Jahn, we don't necessarily talk about buildings in terms of sustainability; we talk about them in terms of performance,” Philip Castillo, managing director at Jahn, said. “We want our buildings to perform at a much higher level, and this building succeeded in meeting that goal.”

Sustainability Organizations Take Notice

In addition to 1000M’s multiple awards, such as the CoStar Impact Award for Development of the Year and the Chicago Commercial Real Estate Award for Multi-Family Development of the Year, the building also earned a Two Green Globes certification, an international whole building certification program awarded by the Green Building Initiative, or GBI. Only three other tall multifamily buildings in the Chicago area have achieved this level of sustainability certification.

“With its Two Green Globes certification, 1000M demonstrates its focus on sustainable, healthier and more resilient living spaces that benefit both residents and the South Loop community,” said Vicki Worden, CEO of GBI. “This certification underscores how the 1000M project team successfully united design and sustainability, with the support of GBI’s trusted third-party review and certification.”

GBI’s Green Globes certification evaluates the sustainability, health and wellness, and resilience of commercial and multifamily real estate in one comprehensive certification system. Projects are scored out of a maximum 1,000 points in categories such as energy performance, water efficiency and indoor environmental quality. 

To achieve a Two Green Globes rating, applicants must meet at least 55% of applicable points — showing a significant achievement in resource efficiency, reducing environmental impacts and improving occupant wellness.

“It’s difficult for buildings to achieve this level of sustainability, and Cyclone Energy Group helped provide the consulting for this certification every step of the way,” Skelton said. “This is something we worked on diligently throughout the design and construction of this building and through various code and regulation changes.”

Three months ago, 1000M earned this prestigious certification. On August 27, Cyclone Energy Group hosted a ceremony to celebrate the certification along with Jahn, McHugh Construction and their teams, who were part of this project.

“We're really proud to have worked on one of the late Helmet Jahn's last designs and such a monumental project for the city,” Skelton said. “We're excited to celebrate earning this certification. This is an important recognition of the entire team's focus on sustainability and a great addition to the project's prior awards.”

This article was produced in collaboration between Studio B and Cyclone Energy Group. Bisnow news staff was not involved in the production of this content.

Studio B is Bisnow’s in-house content and design studio. To learn more about how Studio B can help your team, reach out to studio@bisnow.com.