Jewel-Osco Goes Green

When we drove by the new Jewel in the West Loop last week before it opened, it was a welcome addition to the neighborhood. Never mind that a huge Dominick's has been there for a few years -- just about 5 blocks south on Halsted -- but it's great to see that this one-time undeveloped area that some even considered skid row just minutes outside the Loop was getting continued love and expansion. But then we learned that the building is the chain's first fully green grocer, well, we just had to give some props to the Albertson's folks (which owns Jewel). The building has a green roof, an indoor-air quality system, energy-saving bulbs, water-saving fixtures, a heat-recycling system, non-ozone-depleting refrigerants, a buffed concrete floor that requires no chemicals to clean, a cooling tower and refrigeration-leak detection system to reduce the use of refrigerants and an energy-recovery unit that cuts heating and cooling costs by 40 percent, according to the Sun-Times. But there's also an in-store dietitian, a line of organic food and a "Shop the World" section featuring locally sourced items. You might say this is the crown Jewel in the West Loop. But saying that would be cheesy so we're not gonna. [via Sun-Times]