Chicago wins central role in federal climate change investment

Argonne National Laboratory will lead a $25 million effort to study methods of fighting climatechange in big cities.

By Corli Jay

The U.S. Department of Energy announced today it has awarded $25 million for theestablishment of an Urban Integrated Field Laboratory in Chicago. The money will be usedover five years to advance urban climate science by studying climate change effects at localand regional scales.

At an event at Chicago State University, Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, director of the Departmentof Energy’s office of science, announced the establishment of Community Research onClimate & Urban Science, or CROCUS, which is led by Argonne National Laboratory.

Two other cities were also given funds for similar sites: Baltimore and Austin, Texas, whichwill focus on the South Texas Gulf Coast. In total, the Department of Energy gave out $66million between the three cities.

CROCUS will focus on the Chicago region to ensure that research results directly benefitlocal residents. It's funded by the Biological & Environmental Research program in theDOE’s office of science.

Researchers with CROCUS will measure Chicago’s temperature, precipitation and soilconditions over the course of the study. They will also look at how the Chicago areainfluences climate regionally while exploring how trees, open spaces, building highways andLake Michigan are shaping the city’s climate.

The goal of CROCUS, according to its website, is to “develop knowledge and tools that areresponsive to the needs of the diverse communities and applicable to urban areas acrossthe country.”

Although Chicago will be the center of the study, the results will be used to help researcherscreate a blueprint to assist other cities across the nation to battle climate change.

“The climate here is noticeably changing. Through CROCUS, we can all join forces tounderstand the underlying processes and provide science-based information,” Cristina Negri,director of Argonne’s Environmental Sciences Division and CROCUS lead, said in astatement. “This will help local planners enact solutions leading to an equitable and effectivetransition to a resilient and carbon-efficient future for all communities.”

As to how the study will be conducted, Negri told Crain's the plan is "to deploy a lot ofinstrumentation in the city," ranging from high-level scientific equipment to more citizen-friendly devices. The data sets—collected at the community, neighborhood and street level—will be used to generate computer models that can help project the impact the climate willhave on the area, she added.

CROCUS will also be partnering with historically Black and minority-serving colleges toaddress underrepresentation in this field of study. Students at these partner schools will alsoassist in collecting data. Some of the academic partners include Chicago State University,City Colleges of Chicago, Northwestern University, the University of Chicago and otherinstitutions around the country.

Negri added that the study is a learning opportunity and will not produce anything tangible,but it will attract others to do similar work using their data and to deploy things like solarpanels to change the environment around them.

With a focus on how climate change affects life at the neighborhood level, the research teamalso includes community-based organizations on the South and West sides to ensure thatresearchers deliver critical information for the transition to clean energy and greeninfrastructure.

The community organizations include Blacks in Green based in Woodlawn, GreaterChatham Initiative, Puerto Rican Agenda in Humboldt Park and the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus.