Cortland River North (kw021)

How does Cortland River North (kw021) 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. Cortland River North (kw021)'s ENERGY STAR score of 74 compares with an average of 62 across the 1,472 that report a score; it scores higher than 59% of them and lower than 40%. Its site EUI of 51.6 kBtu/ft² is about 28% 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 4.9 kgCO₂e/ft² is about 15% below the group average of 5.8 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 238,860 sq ft, it is about 16% above the average floor area of 206,097 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 2015, 44 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 Cortland River North (kw021)'s energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 8 Chicago disclosures for Cortland River North (kw021), covering report years 2016–2023. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 81 in 2016 to 74 in 2023 (-7 points); its best year on file was 2019, at 100. Site EUI moved from 51.9 kBtu/ft² (2016) to 51.6 kBtu/ft² (2023), a 1% decrease. Reported emissions went from 1,395 tCO₂e to 1,172 tCO₂e over the same span (down 16%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 74 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 74 means the building performs better than about 74% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 74 falls in band B — above median (70–84). It sits 1 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. Cortland River North (kw021)'s 51.6 kBtu/ft² across 238,860 sq ft works out to about 12.3 billion Btu (3,612 MWh-equivalent) in 2023. Its source EUI of 101.2 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 1,881,784 kWh of electricity, 58,951 therms of natural gas and 5,840 thousand gallons of water for the year.

Which law requires Cortland River North (kw021) to report its energy use?

Cortland River North (kw021) 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:160381:2023). Covered buildings that fail to benchmark and report face fines of up to $100 plus $25 per day of violation under the ordinance.