Links from the Milwaukee-informationsphere

• Mary Louise Schumacher is yet another art person doesn’t think it’s a good idea to build a recognizable landmark that will increase pedestrian traffic in downtown Milwaukee.
• Hofbrauhaus Milwaukee, a proposed German beer hall and restaurant, is likely coming next The Brewery development at the old Pabst brewery in Blue Ribbon Hall after the settlement of a lawsuit involving Brew City Redevelopment LLC with the complex’s former owners, WisPark LLC. The article makes no mention of the existing Old German Beer Hall and how urban Milwaukee is delightfully reinventing itself more in the fashion of a city like Munich, Germany.
• Robert Kern, of Generac fame and fortune, is powering a change in the way the state handles engineering education through his foundation (Kern Family Foundation). Two urban Milwaukee schools are at the center of this in MSOE and Marquette, through the recruitment of Project Lead the Way students form high schools and their participation in KEEN (Kern Entrepreneurship Education Network). Urban Milwaukee would like to applaud the efforts of Robert Kern for his visionary leadership in truly investing in the future of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and the entire Fresh Coast economy and education system.
• The Journal Sentinel takes a look at how you can reduce your power consumption and what effects it will have. Absolutely worth your time to read.
• Dave Reid takes a look at the Kane Commons development and gives us a construction update of the Breakwater Condos and The Residences on Water.

The Kane Commons project located at 1142 to 1158 East Kane Place is another of many Milwaukee area projects utilizing green building concepts. Recently projects such as The Brewery announced various green building components such as capturing and processing all of the rainwater within The Brewery complex. The Edison Green project will feature many green features such as solar panels, wind turbines, and car-sharing. And the Kane Commons project will utilize straw bales as a key building material and geothermal heating throughout the buildings.

The green features in the Kane Commons project should reduce utility bills, generate less of a carbon footprint and offer additionally quality of life benefits. The straw bales construction has an insulation R-factor in the range of R30 to R50 which significantly outperforms typical home construction. Unlike typical construction materials, straw bales are highly renewable which reduces the lifelong carbon footprint. Additionally it offers additional advantages such as improved fire resistance and sound proofing. The geothermal heating system will utilize the Earth’s natural warmth to heat the buildings requiring less generated energy thereby reducing bills and pollution. This project’s green efforts, much like the Edison Green project’s green efforts, may influence future developments in Milwaukee to look for new green ideas.

Articles

Long-awaited Kane Commons moving ahead
Building homes with a purpose
Kane Commons: Green Development on Lower East Side
Proposed “Green” Development to Overlook the River at E. Kane Place
Pragmatic Construction: Kane Commons