Electrify Chicago
An independent tool for viewing City of Chicago building data
According to the
2022 Chicago Climate Action Plan
,
69% of Chicago's emissions come from buildings, making
building emissions our biggest challenge and our biggest opportunity as a city
to tackle climate change. At Electrify Chicago, we showcase building performance using
publicly available data supplemented by community-submitted photographs and building
owners.
Start by looking at Chicago's buildings with the highest greenhouse gas intensity i.e. emissions per square foot. Large, efficient, buildings can perform much better than very inefficient small buildings on this metric.
New Article
📰 $30 Million In Missed Fines
The City Of Chicago failed to collect $30 million in potential fines from the building benchmarking ordinance, reducing transparency and accountability.
Legislative update! 🎉
As of late January 2024, legislation is being introduced to require new use more efficient forms of water and space heating, via the Clean And Affordable Buildings Ordinance (CABO), which will reduce the number of highly polluting and inefficient buildings that end up on this site.
If you're in Chicago,
write to your alderman to support the CABO!
Chicago Buildings by Greenhouse Gas Intensity
Note: Data only includes large Chicago buildings from 2021, unless explicitly stated otherwise.
Note: This data only includes buildings whose emissions are reported
under the
Chicago Energy Benchmarking Ordinance. According to the City “As of 2016,
this list includes all commercial, institutional, and residential buildings larger than
50,000 square feet.” This dataset is also then filtered to only buildings with
reported emissions > 1,000 metric tons CO2 equivalent.
This data is also from 2021, but when new benchmark data is available, we'll update the site.
| Property Name / address | Primary Property Type |
Greenhouse Gas Intensity (kg CO2 eq./sqft) |
Total Greenhouse Emissions (metric tons CO2 eq.) |
|---|---|---|---|
|
CHICAGO SOUTH LOOP (1889)
1154 S Clark St
| Retail Store | 9.9 kg/sqft 
Highest 16%
| 1,773 tons
Highest 27%
|
|
River Village Pointe Condominium Association
(CHA)
845 N KINGSBURY
| Multifamily Housing | 9.9 kg/sqft
Highest 16%
| 862 tons 
Lowest 49%
|
|
The Professional Building (Central Campus Health Center)
1950 W Polk St
| Office | 9.8 kg/sqft
Highest 16%
| 2,768 tons
Highest 15%
|
|
Renee Granville-Grossman Residential Commons
(UChicago)
6031 S Ellis Ave
| Residence Hall/Dormitory | 9.8 kg/sqft
Highest 16%
| 3,334 tons
Highest 11%
|
|
Reid Murdoch Center
315 - 331 N LaSalle St
| Office | 9.8 kg/sqft
Highest 16%
| 3,302 tons
Highest 12%
|
|
Montgomery on Superior Condominium Association
500 W Superior St
| Multifamily Housing | 9.8 kg/sqft
Highest 16%
| 3,936 tons
Highest 10%
|
|
Shops and Lofts at 47
(CHA)
4700 S COTTAGE GROVE AVE
| Multifamily Housing | 9.8 kg/sqft
Highest 16%
| 1,982 tons
Highest 23%
|
|
770 N. Halsted St.
770 N Halsted St
| Office | 9.8 kg/sqft
Highest 16%
| 1,441 tons
Highest 32%
|
|
CHICAGO SOUTH PULASKI (1879)
4433 S Pulaski Rd
| Retail Store | 9.8 kg/sqft
Highest 16%
| 1,184 tons
Highest 39%
|
|
CHICAGO NEAR NORTH (0942)
2656 N Elston Ave
| Retail Store | 9.8 kg/sqft
Highest 16%
| 1,822 tons
Highest 25%
|
|
Cook County Building
118 N Clark St
| Office | 9.8 kg/sqft
Highest 16%
| 6,281 tons
Highest 5%
|
|
2229 South Halsted
2229 S Halsted St
| Office | 9.7 kg/sqft
Highest 16%
| 827 tons
Lowest 48%
|
|
Tailor Lofts: 315 South Peoria Street
310 S PEORIA ST
| Multifamily Housing | 9.7 kg/sqft
Highest 16%
| 1,817 tons
Highest 26%
|
|
Piper's Alley
230 W North Ave
| Mixed Use Property | 9.7 kg/sqft
Highest 16%
| 2,136 tons
Highest 21%
|
|
Silversmith Hotel & Suites - CSS
10 S Wabash Ave
| Hotel | 9.7 kg/sqft
Highest 16%
| 1,304 tons
Highest 36%
|
Data Source:
Chicago Energy Benchmarking Data