Freedom Center

How does Freedom Center compare with other residence hall/dormitory buildings in Chicago?

The latest disclosures cover 25 residence hall/dormitory buildings in Chicago, out of 3,852 buildings citywide. Freedom Center's ENERGY STAR score of 29 compares with an average of 64 across the 18 that report a score; it scores higher than 0% of them and lower than 89%. Its site EUI of 123.3 kBtu/ft² is about 47% above the average of 83.6 kBtu/ft² — it uses more energy per square foot than the typical building in that group. Its emissions intensity of 11.1 kgCO₂e/ft² is about 56% above the group average of 7.1 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 184,000 sq ft, it is roughly in line with the average floor area of 167,953 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 2015, 39 years later than the group's average year built (1977). Across all 24 jurisdictions BuildingCensus covers, the 702 residence hall/dormitory buildings average an ENERGY STAR score of 70 and a site EUI of 70.7 kBtu/ft².

How has Freedom Center's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 8 Chicago disclosures for Freedom Center, covering report years 2016–2023. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 22 in 2016 to 29 in 2023 (+7 points); its best year on file was 2018, at 53. Site EUI moved from 109.2 kBtu/ft² (2016) to 123.3 kBtu/ft² (2023), an 13% increase. Reported emissions went from 2,233 tCO₂e to 2,048 tCO₂e over the same span (down 8%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 29 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 29 means the building performs better than about 29% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 29 falls in band D — lowest band (1–54). It sits 46 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. Freedom Center's 123.3 kBtu/ft² across 184,000 sq ft works out to about 22.7 billion Btu (6,649 MWh-equivalent) in 2023. Its source EUI of 221.8 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 2,847,298 kWh of electricity and 129,649 therms of natural gas for the year.

Which law requires Freedom Center to report its energy use?

Freedom Center 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:254389:2023). Covered buildings that fail to benchmark and report face fines of up to $100 plus $25 per day of violation under the ordinance.