1242 Lake Shore Drive
Multifamily Housing in Chicago, IL · 1242 N. Lake Shore Drive · 60610
At a glance
1242 Lake Shore Drive is a 136,591-square-foot multifamily housing building at 1242 N. Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, Illinois, built in 1929. In its 2023 Chicago benchmarking disclosure it reported an ENERGY STAR score of 48 out of 100 (grade D), a site energy-use intensity of 91.0 kBtu/ft² and 827 tCO₂e of greenhouse-gas emissions. That score is higher than 30% of the 1,472 scored multifamily housing buildings in Chicago.
Building Energy Use Benchmarking Ordinance · reporting year 2023
Benchmarking record
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| ENERGY STAR score | 48 (band D) |
| Site EUI | 91.0 kBtu/ft² |
| Source EUI | 120.2 kBtu/ft² |
| GHG emissions | 827 tCO₂e |
| GHG intensity | 6.1 kgCO₂e/ft² |
| Electricity | 563,327 kWh |
| Natural gas | 105,095 therms |
| Gross floor area | 136,591 sq ft |
| Source record | chicago:251237:2023 |
The disclosure history
Year over year
| Year | Score | Δ | Site EUI | GHG emissions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023latest | 48 | +7 | 91.0 kBtu/ft² | 827 tCO₂e |
| 2022 | 41 | -9 | 107.6 kBtu/ft² | 934 tCO₂e |
| 2021 | 50 | +5 | 95.3 kBtu/ft² | 870 tCO₂e |
| 2020 | 45 | +5 | 98.7 kBtu/ft² | 922 tCO₂e |
| 2019 | 40 | -3 | 106.1 kBtu/ft² | — |
| 2018 | 43 | +6 | 106.0 kBtu/ft² | 999 tCO₂e |
| 2017 | 37 | +2 | 106.3 kBtu/ft² | 1,020 tCO₂e |
| 2016 | 35 | 110.0 kBtu/ft² | 1,075 tCO₂e |
Compliance context
Building Energy Use Benchmarking Ordinance
Covered buildings that fail to benchmark and report face fines of up to $100 plus $25 per day of violation under the ordinance.
Ownership
No owning organisation shown. Names of private individuals in the disclosure are not published here.
Own or manage this building? Claim it to correct the record and get compliance alerts.
Location
- Address
- 1242 N. Lake Shore Drive
- City
- Chicago
- State
- Illinois
- ZIP
- 60610
- Coordinates
- 41.99448, -87.65773
Within ~1 km
Nearby benchmarked buildings
Office · 2,376,470 sq ft
- Two North Riverside Plazascore 64
Office · 741,315 sq ft
Multifamily Housing · 722,318 sq ft
- The Sinclair (nl97) (sz63)score 47
Multifamily Housing · 595,002 sq ft
- The Westin Chicago River Northscore 82
Hotel · 550,000 sq ft
- 550 West Adamsscore 87
Office · 519,368 sq ft
See also: most efficient in Chicago · biggest emitters
How does 1242 Lake Shore Drive compare with other multifamily housing buildings in Chicago?
The latest disclosures cover 1,515 multifamily housing buildings in Chicago, out of 3,852 buildings citywide. 1242 Lake Shore Drive's ENERGY STAR score of 48 compares with an average of 62 across the 1,472 that report a score; it scores higher than 30% of them and lower than 69%. Its site EUI of 91.0 kBtu/ft² is about 26% above the average of 72.0 kBtu/ft² — it uses more energy per square foot than the typical building in that group. Its emissions intensity of 6.1 kgCO₂e/ft² is roughly in line with the group average of 5.8 kgCO₂e/ft².
At 136,591 sq ft, it is about 34% below the average floor area of 206,097 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1929, 42 years earlier than the group's average year built (1971). Across all 24 jurisdictions BuildingCensus covers, the 59,945 multifamily housing buildings average an ENERGY STAR score of 70 and a site EUI of 59.0 kBtu/ft².
How has 1242 Lake Shore Drive's energy performance changed over time?
BuildingCensus holds 8 Chicago disclosures for 1242 Lake Shore Drive, covering report years 2016–2023. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 35 in 2016 to 48 in 2023 (+13 points); its best year on file was 2021, at 50. Site EUI moved from 110.0 kBtu/ft² (2016) to 91.0 kBtu/ft² (2023), a 17% decrease. Reported emissions went from 1,075 tCO₂e to 827 tCO₂e over the same span (down 23%).
What does an ENERGY STAR score of 48 mean?
ENERGY STAR scores run from 1 to 100 and are computed by the EPA's Portfolio Manager as a percentile against similar buildings nationwide, adjusted for climate, size and use: a score of 48 means the building performs better than about 48% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 48 falls in band D — lowest band (1–54). It sits 27 points below 75, the threshold for ENERGY STAR certification. In Chicago, 35% of scored buildings are at 75 or above.
Site energy-use intensity (EUI) is the energy a building uses on site in a year divided by its floor area, in thousand Btu per square foot — lower is more efficient. 1242 Lake Shore Drive's 91.0 kBtu/ft² across 136,591 sq ft works out to about 12.4 billion Btu (3,643 MWh-equivalent) in 2023. Its source EUI of 120.2 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 563,327 kWh of electricity and 105,095 therms of natural gas for the year.
Which law requires 1242 Lake Shore Drive to report its energy use?
1242 Lake Shore Drive reports under the Building Energy Use Benchmarking Ordinance, the legal basis of the Chicago Energy Benchmarking program, which publishes each covered building's annual benchmarking results. The record shown here is the report-year 2023 disclosure (source record chicago:251237:2023). Covered buildings that fail to benchmark and report face fines of up to $100 plus $25 per day of violation under the ordinance.
More multifamily housing buildings in Chicago
- C(IL292) - Oakdale Towers· 136,304 sq ft · score 83 (B)
- 1143 S Plymouth Court· 136,110 sq ft · score 80 (B)
- Forty East Delaware Place Condominium Association· 136,000 sq ft · score 47 (D)
- The Covington· 135,600 sq ft · score 37 (D)
- 2950 North Sheridan· 135,460 sq ft · score 48 (D)
- 336 Wellington Association· 135,081 sq ft · score 81 (B)
- Multifamily Housing buildings in Chicago· 1,515 benchmarked
- All Chicago benchmarked buildings· Building Energy Use Benchmarking Ordinance
- Most efficient large buildings in Chicago
- Least efficient large buildings in Chicago
- Biggest emitters in Chicago
Frequently asked questions
What is 1242 Lake Shore Drive's energy grade?
1242 Lake Shore Drive scores 48 out of 100 on ENERGY STAR — band D, lowest band (1–54) — in its 2023 Chicago disclosure. Scores are national percentiles against similar buildings; 75+ qualifies for ENERGY STAR certification.
How much energy does 1242 Lake Shore Drive use?
Its 2023 site energy-use intensity was 91.0 kBtu/ft² (120.2 kBtu/ft² source) across 136,591 sq ft, including 563,327 kWh of electricity and 105,095 therms of natural gas.
What are 1242 Lake Shore Drive's carbon emissions?
1242 Lake Shore Drive reported 827 tCO₂e of greenhouse-gas emissions (6.1 kgCO₂e/ft²) for 2023.
Where is 1242 Lake Shore Drive?
1242 Lake Shore Drive is at 1242 N. Lake Shore Drive, in Chicago, Illinois 60610. Its coordinates are 41.99448, -87.65773 (latitude, longitude), as published in the Chicago Energy Benchmarking file.
How big is 1242 Lake Shore Drive and when was it built?
1242 Lake Shore Drive has 136,591 sq ft of gross floor area, as reported in its 2023 disclosure. The disclosure lists 1929 as its year built. It is classed as multifamily housing.
Is 1242 Lake Shore Drive covered by the Building Energy Use Benchmarking Ordinance?
Yes — it appears in the 2023 Chicago Energy Benchmarking disclosure, which lists the buildings reporting under the Building Energy Use Benchmarking Ordinance.
Working with Chicago building benchmarking records? Pro adds alerts, change history and CSV export ($49/mo); Enterprise adds full national files, the API and an MCP server for AI tools.
About this data
Source: Chicago Energy Benchmarking (Building Energy Use Benchmarking Ordinance), as published October 2, 2026. See the methodology for how records are matched, cleaned and scored.
Cite as: BuildingCensus, “1242 Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, Illinois — 2023 benchmarking disclosure”, https://buildingcensus.com/buildings/chicago/1242-lake-shore-drive-1698abdf (data as of October 2, 2026).