Aspire

How does Aspire 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. Aspire's ENERGY STAR score of 68 compares with an average of 62 across the 1,472 that report a score; it scores higher than 52% of them and lower than 47%. Its site EUI of 62.5 kBtu/ft² is about 13% below the average of 72.0 kBtu/ft² — it uses less energy per square foot than the typical building in that group. Its emissions intensity of 5.5 kgCO₂e/ft² is roughly in line with the group average of 5.8 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 276,040 sq ft, it is about 34% above the average floor area of 206,097 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 2020, 49 years later 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 Aspire's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 4 Chicago disclosures for Aspire, covering report years 2020–2023. Site EUI moved from 54.6 kBtu/ft² (2021) to 62.5 kBtu/ft² (2023), an 14% increase. Reported emissions went from 1,404 tCO₂e to 1,519 tCO₂e over the same span (up 8%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 68 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 68 means the building performs better than about 68% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 68 falls in band C — below median (55–69). It sits 7 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. Aspire's 62.5 kBtu/ft² across 276,040 sq ft works out to about 17.3 billion Btu (5,056 MWh-equivalent) in 2023. Its source EUI of 109.6 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 2,035,253 kWh of electricity and 102,973 therms of natural gas for the year.

Which law requires Aspire to report its energy use?

Aspire 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:256831:2023). Covered buildings that fail to benchmark and report face fines of up to $100 plus $25 per day of violation under the ordinance.