550 W Jackson Boulevard

How does 550 W Jackson Boulevard compare with other office buildings in Chicago?

The latest disclosures cover 387 office buildings in Chicago, out of 3,852 buildings citywide. 550 W Jackson Boulevard's ENERGY STAR score of 65 compares with an average of 69 across the 320 that report a score; it scores higher than 32% of them and lower than 67%. Its site EUI of 58.1 kBtu/ft² is about 17% 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 7.8 kgCO₂e/ft² is roughly in line with the group average of 7.5 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 442,613 sq ft, it is roughly in line with the average floor area of 488,124 sq ft for those buildings. Its 1959 construction date is close to 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 550 W Jackson Boulevard's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 10 Chicago disclosures for 550 W Jackson Boulevard, covering report years 2014–2023. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 66 in 2014 to 65 in 2023 (-1 points); its best year on file was 2022, at 95. Site EUI moved from 101.0 kBtu/ft² (2014) to 58.1 kBtu/ft² (2023), a 42% decrease. Reported emissions went from 8,846 tCO₂e to 3,441 tCO₂e over the same span (down 61%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 65 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 65 means the building performs better than about 65% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 65 falls in band C — below median (55–69). It sits 10 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. 550 W Jackson Boulevard's 58.1 kBtu/ft² across 442,613 sq ft works out to about 25.7 billion Btu (7,537 MWh-equivalent) in 2023. Its source EUI of 162.8 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 7,541,902 kWh of electricity for the year.

Which law requires 550 W Jackson Boulevard to report its energy use?

550 W Jackson Boulevard 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:103596:2023). Covered buildings that fail to benchmark and report face fines of up to $100 plus $25 per day of violation under the ordinance.