For almost 40 years, brothers Bob and Bill Planek have been a part of the Oak Park area community through their property rental company, Oak Park Apartments. The duo got their roots in local real estate when they were students at Fenwick High School and worked in janitorial and maintenance for area apartment buildings.
Once they finished school, the brothers saw a business opportunity in the local rental market, which had not seen a lot of investment. They bought a two-flat and the rest is history.
Fast forward a few decades and Oak Park Apartments owns over 75 buildings and 1,800 units in Oak Park, River Forest, Forest Park and Chicago. Their buildings might be vintage – most of their buildings are 1920s era courtyard complexes – but their maintenance methods are cutting edge.
After Oak Park adopted the Climate Ready Oak Park plan in 2022, the village began to implement sustainability measures in the code for newly constructed buildings. These measures do not apply to Oak Park Apartments’ vintage buildings, but the Planeks were already onto green building practices.
Wendy Planek, marketing consultant for the organization, notes that for over 20 years Oak Park Apartments has been using the latest sustainability measures in updating and maintaining their properties, often pairing with local firm Energy Matters.
She says, “They’ve been on the green energy bandwagon for probably 20 years in a variety of ways. As the technology changes, the methods have changed too. My husband (Bob) and his brother are advocates of finding new technology and seeing what works.”
She says being green pays real dividends in terms of both monetary savings and the quality of life for tenants. On top of this there’s the often-unheralded sustainability measure that comes from maintaining older buildings rather than tearing them down: maintaining older buildings conserves energy and avoids putting building debris in landfills. She adds, “Preserving these historic buildings that we have — that’s probably the greenest thing.”
Some of the efforts Oak Park Apartments undertakes are rooted in new technologies that help the vintage buildings stay warmer in winter and cooler in summer.
Anytime one of the buildings needs a new roof, they work with a white product that reflects heat. They also apply five inches of continuous foam insulation under the roof. When they take out walls during a rehabilitation project, they always add insulation. Insulation around hot water heaters and pipes also helps with energy efficiency.
Oak Park Apartments also is thoughtful with what goes into their buildings. New appliances are Energy Star-rated. Interior lighting is LED, and paint is low VOC. They also are careful with water expenditures: new plumbing fixtures are low-flow and plants used for landscaping are drought resistant.
Planek notes that a lot of these changes, as well as installation of sustainable HVAC systems, have been done with the help of Energy Matters. The locally owned heating and cooling company specializes in designing, engineering, and installing complete comfort systems for owners of existing homes and buildings.
Much as the Planek brothers began their business endeavors in high school, Mike and Matt Nickels got their start working summer construction jobs with the Planeks while still in high school.
After graduating from college with engineering degrees, the brothers started Energy Matters and have been helping clients with electric, HVAC and other work to make their homes more sustainable.
Mike Nickels says of the long-term relationship with Oak Park Apartments, “We’ve worked hand-in-hand for our whole business career, and they’re really pushing the envelope.”
Working with Energy Matters, Oak Park Apartments has taken on a number of major projects to make their buildings more efficient.
In 2021, they converted 914 North Blvd. to a fully solar building for all 30 apartment units. At 8-12 Van Buren, they added a heat pump split system, replacing electric baseboard heating in 41 units.
At press time, they are replacing an original, electric-ducted heat system in 41 units with a heat pump-ducted system at 228 Des Plaines Ave. in Forest Park. At 408 N. Taylor Ave. in Oak Park, a hybrid heat pump system is being installed to replace the gas system in 25 apartment units.
Nickels says the technology on heat pump systems has evolved rapidly. “When we started 8 to 10 years ago the technology wasn’t really there for the northern half of the country. Now, the technology is good down to negative 17 degrees. There’s been a nice wave of technological improvements alongside society’s adoption of these technologies.”
For more information on how heat pump systems work, Planek referenced: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oETVJ7Nx9g0
In addition to the energy efficient projects above, Planek says that Oak Park Apartments continue to maintain and upgrade all of their properties. A recent restoration at their historic E.E. Roberts building at 173. N. Grove saw the replacement of 18 of 40 sculptural heads. At 201-209 N. Grove, the building was completely renovated and drought-tolerant landscaping was added. Properties such as 927 Wesley have pollinator gardens.
Sustainability measures have lowered utility bills significantly — roughly 30%. Planek notes that there are a lot of benefits to their tenants that can’t be measured.
“There are definitely cheaper choices that you can make, but we don’t want to be replacing these upgrades in a few years. We’re looking more long-term to get the buildings better than they were before in terms of sustainability while maintaining the vintage charm.”
She emphasizes, “I think a lot of people seek us out and Oak Park out because of our architecture. It’s good for the environment, good for the long-term sustainability of the architecture and good for people wanting to live in our buildings.”
