According to the EPA, buildings contribute 31% of Greenhouse Gas emissions (GHGs) in the US (by comparison, passenger cars and light duty trucks accounts for 16%).  In the City of Evanston, buildings produce a staggering 80% of the City's total GHGs. Consider this: a building of 20 stories or taller has double the carbon footprint per square foot of floor space than that of a building that is 6 stories or less both in construction and in operations.  Evanston's own benchmarking data confirm this for operations. Tall buildings have to deal with higher winds, colder temperatures and increased solar gain.  They require proportionately more steel and concrete--a huge source of GHGs.  A rough estimate of the increased GHGs of a 1500 sq ft unit in a highrise building over GHGs of the unit in a 3 story building: it is equivalent to driving at least 46,000 miles per year (based on 2023 mpg) for the life of the building.

Envision Evanston 2045 Draft Plan calls for more tall buildings in Downtown Evanston.  Adding tall buildings will not only exacerbate our climate crises, it will also hamper efforts to make downtown Evanston more visitor friendly. A growing city doesn't need streets to be stifled with traffic congestion, wind tunnels, and lack of sunshine in the winter. Rather, it should have a downtown that is a welcoming space with wider sidewalks and pedestrian-only streets. 

Let's embrace a future that prioritizes sustainable growth and improved quality of life.  Increasing density with buildings 6 stories or less along transit corridors is environmentally friendly.  We urge Evanston city officials to prohibit the construction of buildings over 10 stories (or over 100ft height). 

Only through your support can we enact this change and put Evanston on a path to environmental sustainability. 

References:

1. Sources of Greenhouse Gas Emissions | US EPA https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/sources-greenhouse-gas-emissions
2. High-rise buildings much more energy-intensive than low-rise | news.myScience / news / news 2017
3. Pomponi, Francesco, et al. "Decoupling density from tallness in analysing the life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of cities." Nature Partner Journal Urban Sustainability 1.1 (2021): 33.  https://www.nature.com/articles/s42949-021-00034-w
4. Godoy-Shimizu, Daniel, et al. "Energy use and height in office buildings." Building Research & Information 46.8 (2018): 845-863.  https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/09613218.2018.1479927