Top 50 Buildings by Greenhouse Gas Emissions
These buildings are the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases in Chicago, both directly (like by burning natural gas on site for heating) and indirectly (by using electricity that is still produced with some fossil fuels).
Many of these buildings are very large, which is a big part of why they use so much energy and have such high emissions. Several of these buildings, however, are not that large, but are instead incredibly inefficient - they use a lot of energy to heat and cool relatively small buildings.
Curious to see buildings sorted by their emissions intensity instead? Check out the homepage!
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.) |
|---|---|---|---|
|
University of Chicago Medical Center
🚨
(UChicago)
5841 S. Maryland Ave MC0985
| Hospital (General Medical & Surgical) | 25.2 kg/sqft 
Highest 2%
| 137,221 tons #1 Highest
|
|
Rush University Medical Center
🚨
1653 W Congress Pkwy
| Hospital (General Medical & Surgical) | 24.7 kg/sqft
Highest 2%
| 96,018 tons #2 Highest
|
|
METROPOLITIAN PIER AND EXPOSITION AUTHORITY
🚨
📷
301 Cermak Rd
| Convention Center | 7.8 kg/sqft
Highest 30%
| 72,303 tons #3 Highest
|
|
Willis Tower (Rivion LLC)
🚨
📷
233 S Wacker Dr
| Office | 10.6 kg/sqft
Highest 13%
| 47,947 tons #4 Highest
|
|
Cook County Department of Corrections Campus
🚨
2700 S California Ave
| Prison/Incarceration | 9.5 kg/sqft
Highest 17%
| 43,342 tons #5 Highest
|
|
Stroger Hospital Campus
🚨
1901 W Harrison St
| Hospital (General Medical & Surgical) | 26.3 kg/sqft #45 Highest
| 41,988 tons #6 Highest
|
|
Crown Hall
🚨
📷
(Illinois Tech)
3360 S State Street
| College/University | 555.1 kg/sqft #1 Highest
| 30,139 tons #7 Highest
|
|
600 West Chicago & 900 N Kingsbury
🚨
600 W Chicago
| Office | 12.6 kg/sqft
Highest 8%
| 27,152 tons #8 Highest
|
|
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago
🚨
225 E Chicago Ave
| Hospital (General Medical & Surgical) | 19.4 kg/sqft
Highest 4%
| 24,952 tons #9 Highest
|
|
Water Tower Place
🚨
845 N Michigan Ave
| Mixed Use Property | 8.4 kg/sqft
Highest 23%
| 21,683 tons #10 Highest
|
|
The John Hancock Center
🚨
📷
875 N Michigan Ave
| Mixed Use Property | 9.5 kg/sqft
Highest 17%
| 21,668 tons #11 Highest
|
|
Ascension Resurrection Medical Center Campus.
🚨
7435 W Talcott Ave
| Hospital (General Medical & Surgical) | 19.8 kg/sqft
Highest 4%
| 21,667 tons #12 Highest
|
|
900 North Michigan
🚩
900 North Michigan
| Mixed Use Property | 10.1 kg/sqft
Highest 15%
| 21,506 tons #13 Highest
|
|
10 and 30 South Wacker
🚨
10 S Wacker Dr
| Office | 7.2 kg/sqft
Highest 38%
| 20,681 tons #14 Highest
|
|
131 S. Dearborn 3
🚨
131 S Dearborn
| Office | 12.2 kg/sqft
Highest 9%
| 20,116 tons #15 Highest
|
|
Gordon Center for Integrative Science (GCIS)
🚩
📷
(UChicago)
929 E 57th St
| Laboratory | 41.8 kg/sqft #13 Highest
| 20,053 tons #16 Highest
|
|
theMART, Chicago
🚩
📷
222 Merchandise Mart Plz
| Office | 4.8 kg/sqft 
Lowest 20%
| 19,842 tons #17 Highest
|
|
Olympia Centre
🚩
737 N Michigan Ave
| Mixed Use Property | 18.5 kg/sqft
Highest 4%
| 19,593 tons #18 Highest
|
|
AMA Plaza
🚩
330 N Wabash Av
| Office | 10.4 kg/sqft
Highest 14%
| 19,501 tons #19 Highest
|
|
Aon Center
🚩
200 E Randolph St
| Office | 6.0 kg/sqft
Lowest 41%
| 19,200 tons #20 Highest
|
|
CH1
🚨
📷
427 S LaSalle St
| Data Center | 119.5 kg/sqft #2 Highest
| 19,115 tons #21 Highest
|
|
600-780 S Federal St
🚨
📷
600 S Federal St
| Data Center | 101.9 kg/sqft #3 Highest
| 18,871 tons #22 Highest
|
|
Prudential Plaza
🚩
130 E Randolph St
| Office | 6.8 kg/sqft
Highest 44%
| 18,670 tons #23 Highest
|
|
The Franklin (227 West Monroe; 222 West Adams)
🚩
227 W Monroe
| Office | 6.3 kg/sqft
Lowest 47%
| 18,584 tons #24 Highest
|
|
Ford City Mall
🚩
7601 S Cicero Ave
| Enclosed Mall | 21.3 kg/sqft
Highest 3%
| 18,461 tons #25 Highest
|
|
IL0000FC-CHICAGO FEDERAL CTR
🚨
219 S Dearborn
| Mixed Use Property | 5.8 kg/sqft
Lowest 37%
| 18,420 tons #26 Highest
|
|
NMH Prentice Womens Hospital
🚨
(Northwestern)
250 E Superior St
| Hospital (General Medical & Surgical) | 19.0 kg/sqft
Highest 4%
| 17,983 tons #27 Highest
|
|
Swedish Hospital Campus
🚩
5145 N California Ave
| Mixed Use Property | 21.1 kg/sqft
Highest 3%
| 16,871 tons #28 Highest
|
|
Trump
🚩
401 N Wabash Ave
| Mixed Use Property | 7.7 kg/sqft
Highest 31%
| 16,439 tons #29 Highest
|
|
Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center
🚨
836 W Wellington Ave
| Hospital (General Medical & Surgical) | 12.3 kg/sqft
Highest 9%
| 16,172 tons #30 Highest
|
|
540 West Madison
🚩
540 W Madison
| Financial Office | 13.0 kg/sqft
Highest 8%
| 15,899 tons #31 Highest
|
|
William Eckhardt Research Center (ERC)
🚨
📷
(UChicago)
5640 S ELLIS AVE
| Laboratory | 54.3 kg/sqft #10 Highest
| 15,454 tons #32 Highest
|
|
350 North Orleans (Rivion LLC)
🚩
350 N Orleans St
| Office | 8.0 kg/sqft
Highest 28%
| 15,074 tons #33 Highest
|
|
Ascension SMEMC St Mary Campus.
🚩
2233 W Division St
| Hospital (General Medical & Surgical) | 21.2 kg/sqft
Highest 3%
| 14,768 tons #34 Highest
|
|
Michigan Plaza
🚩
205 N Michigan Ave
| Office | 7.0 kg/sqft
Highest 41%
| 14,426 tons #35 Highest
|
|
55 East Monroe Office
🚩
55 E Monroe St
| Office | 8.6 kg/sqft
Highest 22%
| 14,344 tons #36 Highest
|
|
Hilton Chicago (CHICH)
🚩
720 S Michigan Ave
| Hotel | 6.7 kg/sqft
Highest 46%
| 13,839 tons #37 Highest
|
|
Harris Bank Building
🚩
115 S LaSalle St
| Office | 9.1 kg/sqft
Highest 19%
| 13,824 tons #38 Highest
|
|
Hyatt Regency Chicago
🚩
151 E Wacker Dr
| Hotel | 6.7 kg/sqft
Highest 46%
| 13,614 tons #39 Highest
|
|
Shirley Ryan AbilityLab
🚩
355 E ERIE ST
| Hospital (General Medical & Surgical) | 15.4 kg/sqft
Highest 6%
| 13,543 tons #40 Highest
|
|
River East Center Campus
🚩
322 E Illinois St
| Mixed Use Property | 8.7 kg/sqft
Highest 21%
| 13,154 tons #41 Highest
|
|
Thompson Center
🚩
100 W Randolph St
| Office | 10.8 kg/sqft
Highest 12%
| 12,909 tons #42 Highest
|
|
500 West Madison
🚩
500 W Madison St
| Office | 6.8 kg/sqft
Highest 44%
| 12,647 tons #43 Highest
|
|
Chicago State University Campus
🚩
9501 S Martin Luther King Dr
| College/University | 10.8 kg/sqft
Highest 12%
| 12,618 tons #44 Highest
|
|
Tech Business Center
🚨
📷
(Illinois Tech)
3440 S Dearborn Street
| College/University | 89.3 kg/sqft #4 Highest
| 12,570 tons #45 Highest
|
|
The Field Museum
🚩
1400 S Lake Shore Dr
| Mixed Use Property | 9.7 kg/sqft
Highest 16%
| 12,417 tons #46 Highest
|
|
8846
🚩
(Northwestern)
303 E Superior Street
| Laboratory | 29.6 kg/sqft #27 Highest
| 12,415 tons #47 Highest
|
|
353 North Clark
🚩
353 N Clark St
| Office | 9.0 kg/sqft
Highest 20%
| 12,295 tons #48 Highest
|
|
Old Post Office
🚩
404 W HARRISON ST
| Office | 4.9 kg/sqft
Lowest 22%
| 12,038 tons #49 Highest
|
|
71 South Wacker
🚩
71 S Wacker Dr
| Office | 7.0 kg/sqft
Highest 41%
| 11,756 tons #50 Highest
|
Data Source:
Chicago Energy Benchmarking Data