Cornell

How does Cornell 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. Cornell's ENERGY STAR score of 77 compares with an average of 62 across the 1,472 that report a score; it scores higher than 62% of them and lower than 37%. Its site EUI of 50.4 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 6.2 kgCO₂e/ft² is roughly in line with the group average of 5.8 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 91,059 sq ft, it is about 56% below the average floor area of 206,097 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 2005, 34 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 Cornell's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 7 Chicago disclosures for Cornell, covering report years 2017–2023. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 58 in 2017 to 77 in 2023 (+19 points). Site EUI moved from 63.8 kBtu/ft² (2017) to 50.4 kBtu/ft² (2023), a 21% decrease. Reported emissions went from 880 tCO₂e to 562 tCO₂e over the same span (down 36%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 77 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 77 means the building performs better than about 77% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 77 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. Cornell's 50.4 kBtu/ft² across 91,059 sq ft works out to about 4.6 billion Btu (1,345 MWh-equivalent) in 2023. Its source EUI of 123.3 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 1,072,921 kWh of electricity and 9,282 therms of natural gas for the year.

Which law requires Cornell to report its energy use?

Cornell 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:173927:2023). Covered buildings that fail to benchmark and report face fines of up to $100 plus $25 per day of violation under the ordinance.