Halsted Flats

How does Halsted Flats 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. Halsted Flats's ENERGY STAR score of 60 compares with an average of 62 across the 1,472 that report a score; it scores higher than 42% of them and lower than 56%. Its site EUI of 70.6 kBtu/ft² is roughly in line with 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 6.8 kgCO₂e/ft² is about 17% above the group average of 5.8 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 229,029 sq ft, it is about 11% above the average floor area of 206,097 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 2014, 43 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 Halsted Flats's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 8 Chicago disclosures for Halsted Flats, covering report years 2016–2023. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 37 in 2016 to 60 in 2023 (+23 points). Site EUI moved from 83.0 kBtu/ft² (2016) to 70.6 kBtu/ft² (2023), a 15% decrease. Reported emissions went from 2,376 tCO₂e to 1,554 tCO₂e over the same span (down 35%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 60 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 60 means the building performs better than about 60% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 60 falls in band C — below median (55–69). It sits 15 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. Halsted Flats's 70.6 kBtu/ft² across 229,029 sq ft works out to about 16.2 billion Btu (4,739 MWh-equivalent) in 2023. Its source EUI of 135.3 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 2,347,267 kWh of electricity and 81,590 therms of natural gas for the year.

Which law requires Halsted Flats to report its energy use?

Halsted Flats 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:160453:2023). Covered buildings that fail to benchmark and report face fines of up to $100 plus $25 per day of violation under the ordinance.