At a glance
839 W. 79th is a 54,000-square-foot office building at 839 W. 79th Street in Chicago, Illinois, built in 2023. In its 2023 Chicago benchmarking disclosure it reported an ENERGY STAR score of 9 out of 100 (grade D), a site energy-use intensity of 79.4 kBtu/ft² and 600 tCO₂e of greenhouse-gas emissions. That score is higher than 1% of the 320 scored office buildings in Chicago.
Building Energy Use Benchmarking Ordinance · reporting year 2023
Benchmarking record
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| ENERGY STAR score | 9 (band D) |
| Site EUI | 79.4 kBtu/ft² |
| Source EUI | 222.3 kBtu/ft² |
| GHG emissions | 600 tCO₂e |
| GHG intensity | 11.1 kgCO₂e/ft² |
| Electricity | 1,256,335 kWh |
| Gross floor area | 54,000 sq ft |
| Source record | chicago:126141:2023 |
The disclosure history
Year over year
| Year | Score | Δ | Site EUI | GHG emissions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023latest | 9 | 79.4 kBtu/ft² | 600 tCO₂e | |
| 2022 | — | — | — | |
| 2021 | — | — | — | |
| 2020 | — | — | — | |
| 2019 | — | — | — | |
| 2018 | — | — | — |
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
- 839 W. 79th Street
- City
- Chicago
- State
- Illinois
- ZIP
- 60620
- Coordinates
- 42.00055, -87.66057
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 839 W. 79th compare with other office buildings in Chicago?
The latest disclosures cover 387 office buildings in Chicago, out of 3,852 buildings citywide. 839 W. 79th's ENERGY STAR score of 9 compares with an average of 69 across the 320 that report a score; it scores higher than 1% of them and lower than 98%. Its site EUI of 79.4 kBtu/ft² is about 13% above the average of 70.4 kBtu/ft² — it uses more energy per square foot than the typical building in that group. Its emissions intensity of 11.1 kgCO₂e/ft² is about 48% above the group average of 7.5 kgCO₂e/ft².
At 54,000 sq ft, it is about 89% below the average floor area of 488,124 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 2023, 67 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 839 W. 79th's energy performance changed over time?
BuildingCensus holds 6 Chicago disclosures for 839 W. 79th, covering report years 2018–2023. Only one of those years carries energy figures.
What does an ENERGY STAR score of 9 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 9 means the building performs better than about 9% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 9 falls in band D — lowest band (1–54). It sits 66 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. 839 W. 79th's 79.4 kBtu/ft² across 54,000 sq ft works out to about 4.3 billion Btu (1,257 MWh-equivalent) in 2023. Its source EUI of 222.3 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 1,256,335 kWh of electricity for the year.
Which law requires 839 W. 79th to report its energy use?
839 W. 79th 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:126141:2023). 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
- 156 N. Jefferson· 53,859 sq ft · score 76 (B)
- PCC - Chicago· 53,623 sq ft · score 72 (B)
- Cuneo Hall-ID# 254160· 53,500 sq ft · score 83 (B)
- State Lake LLC· 53,053 sq ft · score 3 (D)
- A&M 445 WEST ERIE, LLC· 52,681 sq ft · score 96 (A)
- Chicago Medical Society· 52,284 sq ft · score 77 (B)
- 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 839 W. 79th's energy grade?
839 W. 79th scores 9 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 839 W. 79th use?
Its 2023 site energy-use intensity was 79.4 kBtu/ft² (222.3 kBtu/ft² source) across 54,000 sq ft, including 1,256,335 kWh of electricity.
What are 839 W. 79th's carbon emissions?
839 W. 79th reported 600 tCO₂e of greenhouse-gas emissions (11.1 kgCO₂e/ft²) for 2023.
Where is 839 W. 79th?
839 W. 79th is at 839 W. 79th Street, in Chicago, Illinois 60620. Its coordinates are 42.00055, -87.66057 (latitude, longitude), as published in the Chicago Energy Benchmarking file.
How big is 839 W. 79th and when was it built?
839 W. 79th has 54,000 sq ft of gross floor area, as reported in its 2023 disclosure. The disclosure lists 2023 as its year built. It is classed as office.
Is 839 W. 79th 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, “839 W. 79th, Chicago, Illinois — 2023 benchmarking disclosure”, https://buildingcensus.com/buildings/chicago/839-w-79th-5417de9b (data as of October 2, 2026).