green

4-Star Certified by the Green Restaurant Association

Winner of the 2010 & 2011 Governor's Sustainability Award

"The Country's First Certified Organic Roof Top Farm" -M.O.S.A. , 2008

2009 & 2010 Mayor's Landscape Award

A WSPA Humane Restaurant (World Society for the Protection of Animals)

"Readers' Choice 2010 Award for Food & Drink, Best Restaurant" -Mindful Metropolis

"2010 Restaurant of the Year" -Edgewater, Chicago Chamber of Commerce

"2009 Green Business of the Year" - Edgewater, Chicago Chamber of Commerce

"21 Best New Restaurants of 2008" -Chicago Magazine

"Best New Breakfast Spot" -TimeOut Chicago

The Country's 1st Certified Organic Roof Top Farm! (M.O.S.A. Oct, 2008)

Winner of the City of Chicago Mayor's Landscape Award 2009

Winner of the prestigious USGBC Environmotion Award 2009

Green Business of the Year 2009 Edgewater, Chicago Chamber of Commerce

uncommon ground

GREEN fact sheet

THE BUILDING

We purchased the property at 1401 W. Devon in Chicago in June of 2007, and did an extensive rehab on our single story (existing) restaurant which included digging the basement down an additional 5 feet, reinforcing the foundation of the entire building with cement underpinnings & footings and removing the old wooden support beams and replacing them with steel beams. Because it was our intention from the start to build an organic production farm on our roof, we reinforced the brick load-bearing walls to hold steel beams, which support a roof top deck made of the composite material that is a combination of recycled plastic and wood, designed by LEED architect Peter Moser of Swiss Design Group. Plumbing was brought to the roof for planter box irrigation. Excess water from the roof is collected in rain barrels and is used to water the ground level plants.

Roof top deck built with recycled plastic/wood composite material.

Solar thermal panels to heat water and reduce gas consumption. Installed by local company,
SolarService, Inc.

Use of low VOC paints from Sherwin Williams.

Use of locally harvested wood from Jackson Park from fallen timbers(white oak and silver maple) for
tabletops, fireplace mantel, host stand, and stage door. Wood was purchased from Horrigan Urban
Forest Products. Design consultation through 2 Point Perspective. Designed and built by i2i Design.

Eliminating wood scraps in landfill by designing a mosaic pattern of end pieces to be used in mantel,
host stand and stage door. Designed and built by i2i Design.

Purchased chairs from local source, Grand Rapids Chair Company. Certified sustainable forestry.

Use of local craftsman for banquette seating, E-J Industries.

Hiring local artists to design and create permanent artwork for the restaurant, located in the
bathrooms and the bar area. Artists include Erica Jane Huntzinger (interior/exterior bathroom door
paintings), Heather Hancock & Denise Milito-Stockwell (mosaic artists for all four bathrooms)
and Joe Ivacic (custom designed hand blown glass fixtures for over the bar).

Placement of fluorescent lighting in all back of the house areas, bathrooms, and offices

Placement of CFL light bulbs wherever a regular bulb socket exists.

Hiring local workers and purchasing supplies from the immediate community as often as possible.

CERTIFIED ORGANIC ROOF TOP FARM -M.O.S.A. - 2008

Organic Certification through Midwest Organic Services Association (MOSA) October, 2008.

Our certified organic farm produces a bountiful harvest of delicious, nutritious produce that we use
in both restaurants.

2500 square foot deck, made from post-consumer recycled materials, on the roof (654 square feet of soil).

The Organic Gardener team assisted in the overall design of irrigation.

Organic plants we rotate through our raised beds over time include: varieties of sweet and hot
peppers, varieties of eggplant, lettuces, heirloom tomatoes, radishes, beets, okra, spinach, fennel,
mustard, bush beans, and shallots.

Herbs we grow include: rosemary, thyme, chives, garlic chives, tarragon, sage, parsley, dill,
mint,lavender,basil, anise hyssop, etc

The beauty of the roof top farm is embellished by a variety of flowers and companion plants including:
nasturtiums, calendula, marigolds, sunflowers, zinnias and morning glories.

We will be planting some seed varieties that have been included in the Slow Food movement's "Ark of
Taste." ("The Ark seeks, first and foremost, to save an economic, social and cultural heritage of fruits and
vegetables").

We purchase organic seeds from Seed Savers, Johnny's, Abundant Life, Terratorial and Seeds of
Change, as well as cultivating our own seed stock from plants that have excelled in our farm.

Our soil is organic and comes from Fox Farm Soil and Fertilizer Company. It is called Happy Frog and the
ingredients are: forest humus, sphagnum peat moss, perlite, earthworm castings, bat guano (sustainably
harvested), humic acid (derived from Leonardite), oyster shell and dolomite lime (for pH adjustments).
We support other local farmers by purchasing organic plants at farmers markets.

THE PLANTER BOXES

All of the boxes are made from steel and cedar, both long lasting materials. The planter boxes were
designed for durability, ease of use, and maximized food production potential. All of them have
trellising and cold frame potential to expand our growing season and harvest.

The perimeter of the rooftop farm is lined with 12 deep boxes in frames, at the 42 high city code height,
and are attached directly onto our steel beams on the roof.
The perimeter also includes a small seating area, a workstation, and a utility closet for tools, organic
fertilizer, etc.

For the interior area of the deck, ten 10' x 4' planter boxes have been built in a variety of heights to
allow the greatest flexibility in growing and gardening capability.

All of the interior boxes are on casters so we can rearrange the garden if needed.

All of the boxes include support structure capability for plants such as tomatoes, cucumbers, pole
beans and peas.

All of the boxes are connected to a programmable drip line irrigation system to maintain an optimum
watering schedule (and least amount of water waste) for the variety of plants we grow.

THE EARTHBOXES

Affiliated with Growing Connection to utilize 27 organic EarthBoxes in food production.
The EarthBoxes measure 29"x13.5"x11".
Sub-irrigated planter boxes facilitate the movement of nutrients from areas of high concentration to areas of low concentration. When water is added, the moist potting mix slowly conducts the diluted nutrients from the fertilizer band down the concentration gradient to the plant roots, which absorb optimal amounts of nutrients at any given time.
The EarthBox's plastic cover drastically reduces the water evaporation rate and returns condensed water vapor to the potting mix. As the plants draw water from the reservoir, they consume only what they need to stay healthy. Plants cannot be over-watered or under-watered if the reservoir is kept full. The plastic cover also prevents fertilizer from being diluted or washed away by rain.

THE BEEHIVES

We have partnered with our neighbor & Beekeeper, Liam Ford, who is maintaining an educational blog at chicagobeeblog.wordpress.com/

In April 2008 we installed two beehives at the southeast corner of our roof to provide pollination in our
community and honey for use in our menu, as well as support for a bee population in crisis.

Our first honey harvest was on September 26th, 2008 and weighed in at 40 pounds.

In May of 2009 two additional beehives were added, bringing us to a total of 4 hives.

We use a Russian bee stock from Tennessee, which have proved to be hearty and incredibly mellow.

THE RESTAURANT

Uncommon Ground is committed to purchasing seasonal, locally produced food without herbicides,
pesticides, antibiotics, hormones or genetically modified ingredients for our menu whenever possible. Over
the years we have developed many relationships with the farmers that we buy from. We make an effort to
visit farms on a regular basis and we bring staff along to educate them as well. Our chefs and other staff
have recently visited Gunthorp Farm, Slagel Family Farms, Green Acres Farm and Seedling Farm, all within
our Midwest region.

We consciously prefer to spend our food dollars with the families who are committed to growing produce
and raising livestock in a humane, sustainable, environmentally responsible manner.
Management and staff at uncommon ground are encouraged to find ways to reduce consumption and
waste, and find products that are environmentally friendly.
Each restaurant has a dedicated green manager that is assigned to continue seeking ways in which we can
be most efficient in our purchasing decisions.

All of our paper towels and toilet paper come from recycled paper.
We use unbleached paper products and items that are biodegradable from Natureworks, LLC and Bio-Pak.
We use brown linen napkins that are laundered, eliminating all disposable napkins. We chose the brown
color so there is no bleach used in laundering them, which is necessary with white restaurant linens.

We have switched all of our cleaning supplies to be more Eco-friendly, using products from Eco-Lab, Onyx
Environmental and Schultz Supply Company.

Motion detection lights are used throughout employee areas to cut down on wasted electricity