(IL0609) - 540 North Lake Shore Drive Condominium (540 N Lake Shore Dr )

How does (IL0609) - 540 North Lake Shore Drive Condominium (540 N Lake Shore Dr ) 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. (IL0609) - 540 North Lake Shore Drive Condominium (540 N Lake Shore Dr )'s ENERGY STAR score of 34 compares with an average of 62 across the 1,472 that report a score; it scores higher than 18% of them and lower than 82%. Its site EUI of 55.7 kBtu/ft² is about 23% 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 5.6 kgCO₂e/ft² is roughly in line with the group average of 5.8 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 224,629 sq ft, it is roughly in line with the average floor area of 206,097 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1912, 59 years earlier 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 (IL0609) - 540 North Lake Shore Drive Condominium (540 N Lake Shore Dr )'s energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 8 Chicago disclosures for (IL0609) - 540 North Lake Shore Drive Condominium (540 N Lake Shore Dr ), covering report years 2016–2023. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 36 in 2016 to 34 in 2023 (-2 points); its best year on file was 2022, at 51. Site EUI moved from 49.9 kBtu/ft² (2016) to 55.7 kBtu/ft² (2023), an 12% increase. Reported emissions went from 1,720 tCO₂e to 1,266 tCO₂e over the same span (down 26%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 34 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 34 means the building performs better than about 34% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 34 falls in band D — lowest band (1–54). It sits 41 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. (IL0609) - 540 North Lake Shore Drive Condominium (540 N Lake Shore Dr )'s 55.7 kBtu/ft² across 224,629 sq ft works out to about 12.5 billion Btu (3,667 MWh-equivalent) in 2023. Its source EUI of 112.4 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 2,030,098 kWh of electricity and 55,789 therms of natural gas for the year.

Which law requires (IL0609) - 540 North Lake Shore Drive Condominium (540 N Lake Shore Dr ) to report its energy use?

(IL0609) - 540 North Lake Shore Drive Condominium (540 N Lake Shore Dr ) 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:174306:2023). Covered buildings that fail to benchmark and report face fines of up to $100 plus $25 per day of violation under the ordinance.