Buena Shores

How does Buena Shores 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. Buena Shores's ENERGY STAR score of 40 compares with an average of 62 across the 1,472 that report a score; it scores higher than 22% of them and lower than 77%. Its site EUI of 107.9 kBtu/ft² is about 50% above the average of 72.0 kBtu/ft² — it uses more energy per square foot than the typical building in that group. Its emissions intensity of 7.4 kgCO₂e/ft² is about 28% above the group average of 5.8 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 185,358 sq ft, it is about 10% below the average floor area of 206,097 sq ft for those buildings. Its 1970 construction date is close to 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 Buena Shores's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 8 Chicago disclosures for Buena Shores, covering report years 2016–2023. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 67 in 2016 to 40 in 2023 (-27 points); its best year on file was 2019, at 97. Site EUI moved from 93.9 kBtu/ft² (2016) to 107.9 kBtu/ft² (2023), an 15% increase. Reported emissions went from 1,419 tCO₂e to 1,373 tCO₂e over the same span (down 3%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 40 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 40 means the building performs better than about 40% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 40 falls in band D — lowest band (1–54). It sits 35 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. Buena Shores's 107.9 kBtu/ft² across 185,358 sq ft works out to about 20 billion Btu (5,861 MWh-equivalent) in 2023. Its source EUI of 149.7 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 1,128,610 kWh of electricity and 161,554 therms of natural gas for the year.

Which law requires Buena Shores to report its energy use?

Buena Shores 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:102337:2023). Covered buildings that fail to benchmark and report face fines of up to $100 plus $25 per day of violation under the ordinance.