the chicago tristate metroregion is among the top five metroregions in the us for specialisations in professional energy services and the metroregion also exhibits specialisations in air and water purification technologies lighting and green architecture and construction services in the chicagoarea county region the milwaukee metroregion has the strongest specialisation in the us in water efficient technologies the growth of the green sector in the chicago tristate metroregion has brought with it a significant number of greensector jobs the sector has grown by since the metroregion could build on these strengths to improve economic and environmental outcomes in the long run energy efficiency retrofitting and green building design could be considered top priorities for job growth and distinguishing the metroregion s green architectural expertise but financing mechanisms for lowering the barriers to energy efficiency investments would need to be improved wind energy holds the promise of developing a sector that is beginning to call the chicago tristate metroregion home but needs clearer pricing signals and technical assistance to become more pricecompetitive