Brothers David and Doug Baum founded Baum Development LLC, in Chicago in 1989. In 1991 they started Baum Realty Group. Baum Development has received numerous awards including seven Chicago Association of Realtor Good Neighbor Awards and a Preservation Excellence Award from the city of Chicago for their work in adaptive reuse and historic preservation.
There latest project brings the past and future together with Green Exchange, a business community devoted to the triple bottom line combining a virtual and community of socially-minded entrepreneurs along with a real-world community of retail and office space housed in a nearly century-old industrial building that once served as headquarters for the Vassar Swiss Underwear Company.
The Baum brothers and their team are nearly complete in retrofitting the grand old 272,000–square-foot structure into the LEED Platinum certified home for more than 100 businesses offering a “unique collection of leading edge products and services to the environmentally conscientious consumer.”
“Live green and prosper”
The idea of the Green Exchange is more than just as a shopping mall for green businesses, but also as a “communication tool” designed to help the green business market move from “niche to mainstream”.
According to the Baum’s, the Green Exchange is designed as a collaborative community for business leaders and entrepreneurs to network and share ideas, while interacting with the public to raise awareness of sustainability, both educating the consumer and providing green options for a wide range of products and services.
As well as the physical community, Green Exchange hopes to build an active virtual green business community led by many of the “big names” in the sustainability movement, including Van Jones, Carol Moseley-Braun, Craig Sieben, and many others. The Green Exchange makes these “Eco-Leaders” available to answer questions and talk of their vision for sustainable business and the green marketplace.
If you’re a green business owner or entrepreneur in the Chicago area, Green Exchange offers amenities to “drive your Triple Bottom Line Growth” for all types of businesses, from retail, office, shared office, and live/work lofts.
Out of ashes of the old economy will emerge the full realization (and necessity) of the green economy. The readers of Triple Pundit know that already, and the Green Exchange aims at doing its part.
The Baum brothers say it best:
“Green Exchange is committed to shifting the green marketplace from niche to mainstream, making green living easy and accessible for the public, and giving green businesses and innovators the national stage they need to grow exponentially.”
Manufacturing in America, Good
Manufacturing Renewable Energy, Better
Upscale Retail, not so Good
Does anyone else see a green flag?
The Baum Brothers Green Exchange project seems a bit suspect - I'd like to hear and see more.
Who is doing the overall peer review on this project. LEED only covers the building and from the looks of it they are still some time away from their LEED ratings. So the Platinum certification claim is pure marketing.
The Baum Brothers business group needs to take a step back and get a peer review before they step out with grand claims about LEED and Green Exchange. It will only support their efforts.
In Chicago I'd recommend Carbon Solutions Group for peer review.
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