March 2015
| Business World
213
In the heart of Downtown Chicago, Illinois,
the world-famous winds are shifting in the
direction of sustainability, and leading the
charge is AMA Plaza. Reaching heights of
695 feet, the 52-story skyscraper rests at a
bend in the Chicago River, and has been a
continued leader in energy efficiency since
construction was completed in 1972.De-
signed by Mies van der Rohe, a pioneer of
modern architecture, AMA Plaza was in-
fused with sustainability from the time it
was conceptualized, says General Manager
Susan Hammer.
“It was his last American building,” she
says.”Because of his forward thinking, it was
built with a lot of energy efficiencies already
in it. It had double-pane windows, a heat-
recovery machine; it was using the highest
technology of the time. It even won the En-
ergy Commission’s first award in 1972 for
being very energy efficient.”
As time moves forward, it is only natural that
technology does too. As a result, this was a
reality which Hammerhad to address with
AMA Plaza, setting in motion a multi-year
plan to modify and upgrade their systems in
order to set a new standard of sustainability
and energy efficiency.
“As technology changed and new equipment
and different ways of running large proper-
ties came into practice,” she explains. “It was
pretty clear that the building had to evolve
with those changing times.”
