The 2022 ranking of "green" buildings shows Illinois in 2nd place, demonstrating a commitment to LEED certification, according to the U.S. Green Building Council.

LEED stands for "Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design," a standard created by the council and used worldwide to define best practices for healthy, high-performing green buildings. In 2022, the top 10 states, plus the District of Columbia, certified more than 1,200 projects.

Lana Crouse, regional director of U.S. market transformation and development for the U.S. Green Building Council, said Illinois has been a front-runner in the green building industry for several years.

"Illinois has been consistently on that top 10 list and has been at the top five times," Crouse reported. "They were in first place last year, they moved to second this year, but they had 91 projects in 2022, totaling more than 44 million square feet."

Crouse noted the LEED rating system is the world's most widely used green building program. In 2022, she added, the Green Building Council surpassed 100,000 LEED-certified projects globally, totaling more than 11 billion square feet.

Crouse pointed out Illinois is a leader in green building because in 2021, state lawmakers passed the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, which sets out goals and incentives to build environmentally and economically sound structures. She calls it the "most equitable climate law" in America.

"Through that and other policy changes, they really pushed it to be the first Midwest state to set climate-fighting targets for phasing out coal and natural gas," Crouse recounted. "And really, truly favoring renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power."

She added the Inflation Reduction Act signed by President Joe Biden last year will bring additional federal funding to states with green building initiatives.

Crouse emphasized LEED certification involves rating operations in buildings, such as air filtration and other green practices within a building, which have been shown to benefit the workers inside.

"The great thing about LEED is it can be used for any building type," Crouse stressed. "In a large city, you're going to see more LEED buildings just because there are buildings in that area. But there are definitely a ton in the suburbs and rural areas as well."

The Ozark Regional Transit Authority will use a $14.9 million federal grant to build electric vehicle charging stations around northwest Arkansas.

The money was awarded as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

The transit authority's Public Information Officer Jeff Hatley said the 17 sites will charge their future electric vehicle fleet, and will be available to the public.

"One will be slow charging, where you plug up your car and 7 to 8 hours later you've got enough charge to get 150 miles out of the vehicle," said Hatley. "We will be using the fast-charging port, where we can pull in and in 30 minutes, we've got a 150-mile range charged up."

The charging stations will have up to 92 ports and will be built in Bentonville, Fayetteville, Rogers, and Springdale.

Once completed, the project will increase the number of public charging ports in northwest Arkansas by 58%. The sites will be near bike trails, shopping centers, and work areas.

Hatley said infrastructure work that's underway now will help them in the future.

"Northwest Arkansas is one of the fastest growing regions in the country," said Hatley, "and so we're trying to keep up with the growth - and even trying to outpace it - to give northwest Arkansas the public transit system that it needs."

Construction is scheduled to start in 2026.

The transit system currently has electric vans for its on-demand transportation. It expects to have some for its regular routes within a couple of years.





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A grant from the federal government is helping improve transportation planning options in the Puget Sound region.

The nonprofit Hopelink received a $519,000 Innovative Coordinated Access and Mobility Project grant, a program created through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed in 2021.

Staci Sahoo, director of mobility management for the nonprofit Hopelink, said the funds will support the second phase in the development of its online tool, the Find a Ride Trip Planner. She pointed out different transportation resources each have their own avenues for signing up.

"We're so excited for is to make it as seamless as we possibly can with all the systems diverging," Sahoo explained. "How do we bring it all into one tool so that somebody just has to apply, just has to sign up one time?"

Sahoo noted the ultimate goal of the Find a Trip Planner tool is to create a seamless process for the booking and payment of transportation. Many people currently need to work across different apps and tools to navigate the process. The planner provides transportation options across King, Pierce and Snohomish Counties.

Sahoo stressed finding transportation can be hard especially for people who may have mobility issues. However, the tool could help them identify resources for transportation.

"An individual who uses a mobility device, a person who identifies as low vision or blind, they're likely eligible for a lot more services than they realize," Sahoo observed. "That's what we're trying to help connect them with."

Sahoo added the tool has also helped to identify gaps in transportation services. For example, Snoqualmie Valley recently launched service on the weekend.

"Our first priority is the end user, the person who will be using the tool," Sahoo asserted. "We've already seen benefits on actually increasing services because we're able to more easily see what's lacking."

The Find a Ride Trip Planner was among 17 projects selected to receive an Innovative Coordinated Access and Mobility Project grant. The Federal Transit Administration distributed a combined $7.8 million to the projects.


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Half a century after the goal was first conceived, Indianapolis and Evansville are now officially connected via an interstate highway.

The I-69 and I-465 interchange is opening this week on the southwest side of Indianapolis, as the sixth and final section between the two cities. Crews broke ground on the I-69 extension in 2008 in southwest Indiana, but the dream of an interstate connecting Evansville to Indianapolis spanned decades.

Gov. Eric Holcomb said the project completes a major economic vision for Indiana.

"The cost of not doing this far exceeded the cost of doing it," Holcomb contended. "This was an investment in us, this was an investment in our future, this was an investment in realizing our potential."

According to the Indiana Department of Transportation, I-69 features more than 26 miles of new interstate, more than 35 new lane miles of local access roads, 39 new bridges and 35 rebuilt or replaced bridges and the elimination of 14 traffic signals. It also reduces travel time from Indianapolis to Martinsville by 11 minutes.

Former Vice President and Gov. Mike Pence spoke at the opening of the highway, telling those in attendance that the project has been dreamed about in Indiana since before the end of World War II.

"It required patience, determination, vision and unwavering commitment," Pence emphasized. "Since 1944, I'm told, citizens, transportation planners, elected officials always looked forward to this day."

Crews are working on the finishing touches. I-69 now runs continuously from the Canadian border to Evansville. It will eventually go all the way to the Mexican border.


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