Brooks HS

How does Brooks HS compare with other K-12 school buildings in Chicago?

The latest disclosures cover 543 K-12 school buildings in Chicago, out of 3,852 buildings citywide. Brooks HS's ENERGY STAR score of 16 compares with an average of 45 across the 365 that report a score; it scores higher than 14% of them and lower than 84%. Its site EUI of 105.0 kBtu/ft² is about 44% above the average of 72.7 kBtu/ft² — it uses more energy per square foot than the typical building in that group. Its emissions intensity of 8.8 kgCO₂e/ft² is about 42% above the group average of 6.2 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 264,710 sq ft, it is about twice the average floor area of 121,824 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1914, 29 years earlier than the group's average year built (1943). Across all 24 jurisdictions BuildingCensus covers, the 6,548 K-12 school buildings average an ENERGY STAR score of 64 and a site EUI of 52.7 kBtu/ft².

How has Brooks HS's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 10 Chicago disclosures for Brooks HS, covering report years 2014–2023. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 13 in 2014 to 16 in 2023 (+3 points); its best year on file was 2018, at 71. Site EUI moved from 103.0 kBtu/ft² (2014) to 105.0 kBtu/ft² (2023), an 2% increase. Reported emissions went from 2,859 tCO₂e to 2,340 tCO₂e over the same span (down 18%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 16 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 16 means the building performs better than about 16% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 16 falls in band D — lowest band (1–54). It sits 59 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. Brooks HS's 105.0 kBtu/ft² across 264,710 sq ft works out to about 27.8 billion Btu (8,146 MWh-equivalent) in 2023. Its source EUI of 176.0 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 2,913,271 kWh of electricity and 178,610 therms of natural gas for the year.

Which law requires Brooks HS to report its energy use?

Brooks HS 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:250038:2023). Covered buildings that fail to benchmark and report face fines of up to $100 plus $25 per day of violation under the ordinance.