St. Patricks, or St. Paddy’s, Day is the one day of the year where everyone is Irish, you’re allowed to drink before 12 pm, you are legally required to play House of Pain’s “Jump Around” on repeat, and everything is green. Even the Chicago River gets in on the fun, but sadly not this year due to the world’s events. Every year since 1962 when Stephen Bailey, a Business Manager of the Chicago Journeymen Plumbers Local Union, got the idea from the dye they used to detect leaks, Chicago’s main waterway dons its emerald tresses. While no one knows exactly what the dye is, we do know that it’s environmentally friendly. That’s not surprising considering the history of Chicago’s “green” ways.

Today, Chicago is also known as The Greenest City to Work In (Koty Neelis; GreenMatters.com; but it definitely wasn’t always the case. Chicago thrived during the Industrial Revolution building factories, skyscrapers, and store fronts. The unfortunate result was a sooty city that ate away at the buildings and the very people living within. Rudyard Kipling, author of “The Jungle Book”, summed up his visit to Chicago with the quote, “Its air is dirt.” After a stern warning from the EPA and the efforts of Chicago’s mayors since 1955, Chicago has made a huge turnaround. Koty Neelis of GreenMatters.com wrote,

When you think of ‘green’ cities that focus on making their metropolis environmentally friendly for its residents places like Portland, Austin, or Seattle might come to mind. But a new study shows that Chicago is actually the greenest city to work in within the U.S. for the second consecutive year.

According to the EPA, 12% of carbon emissions in any city are from commercial and residential properties. Chicago has the most LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified buildings in the US second only to Colorado. Yagla Engineering Services is no stranger to helping make sustainable mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems in properties. These systems in a building can be large consumers of energy and it’s imperative the design engineers ensure all systems selected for a building can provide energy saving measures. YES is committed to creating sustainable systems for future generations and keeping the country green…not just on St. Patrick’s Day.