At a glance
300 South Riverside Plaza is a 1,225,724-square-foot office building in Chicago, Illinois, built in 1983. In its 2023 Chicago benchmarking disclosure it reported an ENERGY STAR score of 82 out of 100 (grade B), a site energy-use intensity of 41.3 kBtu/ft² and 7,091 tCO₂e of greenhouse-gas emissions. That score is higher than 73% of the 320 scored office buildings in Chicago.
Building Energy Use Benchmarking Ordinance · reporting year 2023
Benchmarking record
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| ENERGY STAR score | 82 (band B) |
| Site EUI | 41.3 kBtu/ft² |
| Source EUI | 115.8 kBtu/ft² |
| GHG emissions | 7,091 tCO₂e |
| GHG intensity | 5.8 kgCO₂e/ft² |
| Electricity | 14,852,407 kWh |
| Water use | 6,062 kgal |
| Gross floor area | 1,225,724 sq ft |
| Source record | chicago:103679:2023 |
The disclosure history
Year over year
| Year | Score | Δ | Site EUI | GHG emissions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023latest | 82 | +8 | 41.3 kBtu/ft² | 7,091 tCO₂e |
| 2022 | 74 | 50.6 kBtu/ft² | 8,174 tCO₂e | |
| 2021 | — | — | — | |
| 2020 | — | — | — | |
| 2019 | 69 | +12 | 61.6 kBtu/ft² | 12,554 tCO₂e |
| 2018 | 57 | -24 | 60.5 kBtu/ft² | 12,339 tCO₂e |
| 2017 | 81 | +2 | 50.7 kBtu/ft² | 11,466 tCO₂e |
| 2016 | 79 | -1 | 60.8 kBtu/ft² | 13,692 tCO₂e |
| 2015 | 80 | +9 | 71.9 kBtu/ft² | 17,140 tCO₂e |
| 2014 | 71 | 79.0 kBtu/ft² | 18,525 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
- 300 South Riverside Plaza
- City
- Chicago
- State
- Illinois
- ZIP
- 60606
- Coordinates
- 41.96568, -87.70824
Within ~1 km
Nearby benchmarked buildings
Museum · 1,300,000 sq ft
Multifamily Housing · 350,000 sq ft
- Cobbler SOuare Lofts (cO34)score 65
Multifamily Housing · 307,867 sq ft
- Lindblom HSscore 52
K-12 School · 305,788 sq ft
- 618 S. Michiganscore —
College/University · 91,447 sq ft
- Joplinscore 20
K-12 School · 77,483 sq ft
See also: most efficient in Chicago · biggest emitters
How does 300 South Riverside Plaza compare with other office buildings in Chicago?
The latest disclosures cover 387 office buildings in Chicago, out of 3,852 buildings citywide. 300 South Riverside Plaza's ENERGY STAR score of 82 compares with an average of 69 across the 320 that report a score; it scores higher than 73% of them and lower than 25%. Its site EUI of 41.3 kBtu/ft² is about 41% below the average of 70.4 kBtu/ft² — it uses less energy per square foot than the typical building in that group. Its emissions intensity of 5.8 kgCO₂e/ft² is about 23% below the group average of 7.5 kgCO₂e/ft².
At 1,225,724 sq ft, it is about 151% above the average floor area of 488,124 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1983, 27 years later than the group's average year built (1957). Across all 24 jurisdictions BuildingCensus covers, the 15,264 office buildings average an ENERGY STAR score of 73 and a site EUI of 59.3 kBtu/ft².
How has 300 South Riverside Plaza's energy performance changed over time?
BuildingCensus holds 10 Chicago disclosures for 300 South Riverside Plaza, covering report years 2014–2023. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 71 in 2014 to 82 in 2023 (+11 points). Site EUI moved from 79.0 kBtu/ft² (2014) to 41.3 kBtu/ft² (2023), a 48% decrease. Reported emissions went from 18,525 tCO₂e to 7,091 tCO₂e over the same span (down 62%).
What does an ENERGY STAR score of 82 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 82 means the building performs better than about 82% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 82 falls in band B — above median (70–84). Scores of 75 or higher meet the threshold for ENERGY STAR certification; certification itself is a separate, verified application that the disclosure does not record. 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. 300 South Riverside Plaza's 41.3 kBtu/ft² across 1,225,724 sq ft works out to about 50.6 billion Btu (14,836 MWh-equivalent) in 2023. Its source EUI of 115.8 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 14,852,407 kWh of electricity and 6,062 thousand gallons of water for the year.
Which law requires 300 South Riverside Plaza to report its energy use?
300 South Riverside Plaza 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:103679:2023). Covered buildings that fail to benchmark and report face fines of up to $100 plus $25 per day of violation under the ordinance.
More office buildings in Chicago
- 222 North LaSalle· 1,217,630 sq ft · score 83 (B)
- 20 North Wacker Drive· 1,200,000 sq ft · score 71 (B)
- 77 West Wacker Drive· 1,185,113 sq ft · score 81 (B)
- 231 South LaSalle· 1,181,159 sq ft · score 89 (A)
- 500 West Monroe· 1,153,491 sq ft · score 87 (A)
- 111 East Wacker Drive· 1,111,058 sq ft · score 50 (D)
- Office buildings in Chicago· 387 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 300 South Riverside Plaza's energy grade?
300 South Riverside Plaza scores 82 out of 100 on ENERGY STAR — band B, above median (70–84) — in its 2023 Chicago disclosure. Scores are national percentiles against similar buildings; 75+ qualifies for ENERGY STAR certification.
How much energy does 300 South Riverside Plaza use?
Its 2023 site energy-use intensity was 41.3 kBtu/ft² (115.8 kBtu/ft² source) across 1,225,724 sq ft, including 14,852,407 kWh of electricity.
What are 300 South Riverside Plaza's carbon emissions?
300 South Riverside Plaza reported 7,091 tCO₂e of greenhouse-gas emissions (5.8 kgCO₂e/ft²) for 2023.
Where is 300 South Riverside Plaza?
300 South Riverside Plaza is in Chicago, Illinois 60606. Its coordinates are 41.96568, -87.70824 (latitude, longitude), as published in the Chicago Energy Benchmarking file.
How big is 300 South Riverside Plaza and when was it built?
300 South Riverside Plaza has 1,225,724 sq ft of gross floor area, as reported in its 2023 disclosure. The disclosure lists 1983 as its year built. It is classed as office.
Is 300 South Riverside Plaza 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, “300 South Riverside Plaza, Chicago, Illinois — 2023 benchmarking disclosure”, https://buildingcensus.com/buildings/chicago/300-south-riverside-plaza-f984cb0c (data as of October 2, 2026).