Chinatown

How does Chinatown 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. Chinatown's ENERGY STAR score of 81 compares with an average of 62 across the 1,472 that report a score; it scores higher than 67% of them and lower than 31%. Its site EUI of 45.8 kBtu/ft² is about 36% 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 5.0 kgCO₂e/ft² is about 14% below the group average of 5.8 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 114,205 sq ft, it is about 45% below the average floor area of 206,097 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1976, 5 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 Chinatown's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 8 Chicago disclosures for Chinatown, covering report years 2016–2023. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 83 in 2016 to 81 in 2023 (-2 points); its best year on file was 2017, at 84. Site EUI moved from 49.7 kBtu/ft² (2016) to 45.8 kBtu/ft² (2023), a 8% decrease. Reported emissions went from 729 tCO₂e to 570 tCO₂e over the same span (down 22%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 81 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 81 means the building performs better than about 81% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 81 falls in band B — above median (70–84). 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. Chinatown's 45.8 kBtu/ft² across 114,205 sq ft works out to about 5.2 billion Btu (1,533 MWh-equivalent) in 2023. Its source EUI of 99.6 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 986,678 kWh of electricity and 18,590 therms of natural gas for the year.

Which law requires Chinatown to report its energy use?

Chinatown 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:252251:2023). Covered buildings that fail to benchmark and report face fines of up to $100 plus $25 per day of violation under the ordinance.