Top 50 Buildings By Square Footage

These are the biggest buildings in our dataset, which should encompass all of the largest buildings in the city that submitted their energy use for 2021. Being a big building does basically guarantee that you use a lot of energy (and emit a lot of CO₂), but a lot of big buildings are very energy efficient and use less energy per square foot than much smaller buildings!

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	Square Footage	Greenhouse Gas Intensity (kg CO₂ eq./sqft)	Total Greenhouse Emissions (metric tons CO₂ eq.)
METROPOLITIAN PIER AND EXPOSITION AUTHORITY 🚨 📷 301 Cermak Rd	Convention Center	9,245,333 sqft #1 Highest	7.8 kg/sqft Highest 30%	72,303 tons #3 Highest
Rush University Medical Center 🚨 1653 W Congress Pkwy	Hospital (General Medical & Surgical)	5,863,656 sqft #2 Highest	24.7 kg/sqft Highest 2%	96,018 tons #2 Highest
University of Chicago Medical Center 🚨 (UChicago) 5841 S. Maryland Ave MC0985	Hospital (General Medical & Surgical)	5,441,713 sqft #3 Highest	25.2 kg/sqft Highest 2%	137,221 tons #1 Highest
Cook County Department of Corrections Campus 🚨 2700 S California Ave	Prison/Incarceration	5,283,773 sqft #4 Highest	9.5 kg/sqft Highest 17%	43,342 tons #5 Highest
Willis Tower (Rivion LLC) 🚨 📷 233 S Wacker Dr	Office	4,600,624 sqft #5 Highest	10.6 kg/sqft Highest 13%	47,947 tons #4 Highest
theMART, Chicago 🚩 📷 222 Merchandise Mart Plz	Office	4,259,185 sqft #6 Highest	4.8 kg/sqft Lowest 20%	19,842 tons #17 Highest
Aon Center 🚩 200 E Randolph St	Office	3,457,865 sqft #7 Highest	6.0 kg/sqft Lowest 41%	19,200 tons #20 Highest
IL0000FC-CHICAGO FEDERAL CTR 🚨 219 S Dearborn	Mixed Use Property	3,176,860 sqft #8 Highest	5.8 kg/sqft Lowest 37%	18,420 tons #26 Highest
The Franklin (227 West Monroe; 222 West Adams) 🚩 227 W Monroe	Office	3,135,770 sqft #9 Highest	6.3 kg/sqft Lowest 47%	18,584 tons #24 Highest
Prudential Plaza 🚩 130 E Randolph St	Office	3,021,067 sqft #10 Highest	6.8 kg/sqft Highest 44%	18,670 tons #23 Highest
10 and 30 South Wacker 🚨 10 S Wacker Dr	Office	3,014,304 sqft #11 Highest	7.2 kg/sqft Highest 38%	20,681 tons #14 Highest
Water Tower Place 🚨 845 N Michigan Ave	Mixed Use Property	2,984,641 sqft #12 Highest	8.4 kg/sqft Highest 23%	21,683 tons #10 Highest
Illinois Institute of Technology (Illinois Tech) 3300 South Federal Street	College/University	2,944,091 sqft	15.6 kg/sqft	45,930 tons
900 North Michigan 🚩 900 North Michigan	Mixed Use Property	2,731,896 sqft #13 Highest	10.1 kg/sqft Highest 15%	21,506 tons #13 Highest
The John Hancock Center 🚨 📷 875 N Michigan Ave	Mixed Use Property	2,620,946 sqft #14 Highest	9.5 kg/sqft Highest 17%	21,668 tons #11 Highest
Trump 🚩 401 N Wabash Ave	Mixed Use Property	2,612,396 sqft #15 Highest	7.7 kg/sqft Highest 31%	16,439 tons #29 Highest
Chase Tower Chicago 10 S Dearborn St	Financial Office	2,521,929 sqft	4.6 kg/sqft	11,190 tons
Old Post Office 🚩 404 W HARRISON ST	Office	2,462,640 sqft #16 Highest	4.9 kg/sqft Lowest 22%	12,038 tons #49 Highest
Presidential Towers (ps19) 🚩 555 W Madison St	Multifamily Housing	2,409,540 sqft #17 Highest	5.4 kg/sqft Lowest 30%	11,371 tons Highest 2%
Hyatt Regency Chicago 🚩 151 E Wacker Dr	Hotel	2,295,495 sqft #18 Highest	6.7 kg/sqft Highest 46%	13,614 tons #39 Highest
300 E Randolph 300 E Randolph	Office	2,286,697 sqft	11.1 kg/sqft	24,655 tons
600 West Chicago & 900 N Kingsbury 🚨 600 W Chicago	Office	2,266,502 sqft #19 Highest	12.6 kg/sqft Highest 8%	27,152 tons #8 Highest
Michigan Plaza 🚩 205 N Michigan Ave	Office	2,159,198 sqft #20 Highest	7.0 kg/sqft Highest 41%	14,426 tons #35 Highest
55 East Monroe Office 🚩 55 E Monroe St	Office	2,144,478 sqft #21 Highest	8.6 kg/sqft Highest 22%	14,344 tons #36 Highest
Hilton Chicago (CHICH) 🚩 720 S Michigan Ave	Hotel	2,054,590 sqft #22 Highest	6.7 kg/sqft Highest 46%	13,839 tons #37 Highest
River East Center Campus 🚩 322 E Illinois St	Mixed Use Property	1,976,978 sqft #23 Highest	8.7 kg/sqft Highest 21%	13,154 tons #41 Highest
680 North Lake Shore Drive 680 N Lake Shore Dr	Multifamily Housing	1,945,838 sqft #24 Highest	4.3 kg/sqft Lowest 13%	7,167 tons Highest 4%
Ford City Mall 🚩 7601 S Cicero Ave	Enclosed Mall	1,939,923 sqft #25 Highest	21.3 kg/sqft Highest 3%	18,461 tons #25 Highest
Aqua at Lakeshore East 🚩 📷 225 N Columbus Dr	Multifamily Housing	1,938,443 sqft #26 Highest	5.4 kg/sqft Lowest 30%	8,388 tons Highest 3%
350 North Orleans (Rivion LLC) 🚩 350 N Orleans St	Office	1,883,966 sqft #27 Highest	8.0 kg/sqft Highest 28%	15,074 tons #33 Highest
AMA Plaza 🚩 330 N Wabash Av	Office	1,881,319 sqft #28 Highest	10.4 kg/sqft Highest 14%	19,501 tons #19 Highest
175 W Jackson 175 W Jackson	Office	1,863,650 sqft	5.9 kg/sqft	10,690 tons
500 West Madison 🚩 500 W Madison St	Office	1,855,810 sqft #29 Highest	6.8 kg/sqft Highest 44%	12,647 tons #43 Highest
71215A STATE STREET Macy's 101 N State St E	Retail Store	1,841,736 sqft #30 Highest	5.6 kg/sqft Lowest 33%	10,269 tons Highest 2%
Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center 🚨 836 W Wellington Ave	Hospital (General Medical & Surgical)	1,836,457 sqft #31 Highest	12.3 kg/sqft Highest 9%	16,172 tons #30 Highest
Juvenile Temporary Detention Center Campus 1100 S Hamilton Ave	Mixed Use Property	1,812,628 sqft #32 Highest	8.7 kg/sqft Highest 21%	8,866 tons Highest 3%
71 South Wacker 🚩 71 S Wacker Dr	Office	1,797,097 sqft #33 Highest	7.0 kg/sqft Highest 41%	11,756 tons #50 Highest
Lake Point Tower Condominium Association 505 N Lake Shore Dr	Multifamily Housing	1,783,891 sqft #34 Highest	6.1 kg/sqft Lowest 43%	9,454 tons Highest 3%
Navy Pier, Inc. 📷 600 E Grand Ave	Mixed Use Property	1,780,000 sqft #35 Highest	10.1 kg/sqft Highest 15%	11,655 tons Highest 2%
131 S. Dearborn 3 🚨 131 S Dearborn	Office	1,778,504 sqft #36 Highest	12.2 kg/sqft Highest 9%	20,116 tons #15 Highest
110 North Wacker Drive - Bank of America Tower 110 N WACKER DR	Office	1,770,000 sqft #37 Highest	4.9 kg/sqft Lowest 22%	8,494 tons Highest 3%
The Palmer House Hotel 17 E Monroe St	Hotel	1,749,427 sqft	6.6 kg/sqft	11,168 tons
20 North Wacker Drive 🚩 20 N Wacker Dr	Office	1,742,899 sqft #38 Highest	5.8 kg/sqft Lowest 37%	10,146 tons Highest 2%
309-The Breakers at Edgewater Beach 🏆 5333 N Sheridan Rd	Senior Living Community	1,742,595 sqft #39 Highest	1.5 kg/sqft #16 Lowest in Chicago*	2,537 tons Highest 17%
Roosevelt Collection 150 W Roosevelt Rd	Mixed Use Property	1,686,996 sqft #40 Highest	4.7 kg/sqft Lowest 19%	5,112 tons Highest 7%
One North Wacker 🚩 1 N Wacker Dr	Office	1,684,690 sqft #41 Highest	7.0 kg/sqft Highest 41%	11,315 tons Highest 2%
Grand Plaza 🚩 540 N State St	Multifamily Housing	1,640,000 sqft #42 Highest	8.2 kg/sqft Highest 25%	9,123 tons Highest 3%
70 W Madison 🚩 70 W Madison St	Office	1,636,819 sqft #43 Highest	6.4 kg/sqft Lowest 49%	10,237 tons Highest 2%
Stroger Hospital Campus 🚨 1901 W Harrison St	Hospital (General Medical & Surgical)	1,596,300 sqft #44 Highest	26.3 kg/sqft #45 Highest	41,988 tons #6 Highest
RICHARD J. DALEY CENTER 🚩 50 W Washington	Courthouse	1,593,714 sqft #45 Highest	6.9 kg/sqft Highest 42%	10,570 tons Highest 2%

Data Source: Chicago Energy Benchmarking Data