Capitol Hill Lofts

How does Capitol Hill Lofts 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. Capitol Hill Lofts's ENERGY STAR score of 90 compares with an average of 62 across the 1,472 that report a score; it scores higher than 81% of them and lower than 18%. Its site EUI of 50.6 kBtu/ft² is about 30% 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 4.3 kgCO₂e/ft² is about 26% below the group average of 5.8 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 120,000 sq ft, it is about 42% below the average floor area of 206,097 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1918, 53 years earlier 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 Capitol Hill Lofts's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 8 Chicago disclosures for Capitol Hill Lofts, covering report years 2016–2023. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 88 in 2016 to 90 in 2023 (+2 points); its best year on file was 2020, at 92. Site EUI moved from 53.2 kBtu/ft² (2016) to 50.6 kBtu/ft² (2023), a 5% decrease. Reported emissions went from 689 tCO₂e to 520 tCO₂e over the same span (down 25%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 90 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 90 means the building performs better than about 90% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 90 falls in band A — high performer (85–100). Scores of 75 or higher meet the threshold for ENERGY STAR certification; certification itself is a separate, verified application that the disclosure does not record. 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. Capitol Hill Lofts's 50.6 kBtu/ft² across 120,000 sq ft works out to about 6.1 billion Btu (1,780 MWh-equivalent) in 2023. Its source EUI of 86.4 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 666,978 kWh of electricity and 38,015 therms of natural gas for the year.

Which law requires Capitol Hill Lofts to report its energy use?

Capitol Hill Lofts 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:133957:2023). Covered buildings that fail to benchmark and report face fines of up to $100 plus $25 per day of violation under the ordinance.