Le Meridien Essex Chicago

How does Le Meridien Essex Chicago compare with other hotel buildings in Chicago?

The latest disclosures cover 88 hotel buildings in Chicago, out of 3,852 buildings citywide. Le Meridien Essex Chicago's ENERGY STAR score of 59 compares with an average of 51 across the 77 that report a score; it scores higher than 58% of them and lower than 40%. Its site EUI of 100.8 kBtu/ft² is roughly in line with the average of 110.1 kBtu/ft² — it uses less energy per square foot than the typical building in that group. Its emissions intensity of 8.6 kgCO₂e/ft² is about 15% below the group average of 10.1 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 98,727 sq ft, it is about 71% below the average floor area of 343,808 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1961, 18 years earlier than the group's average year built (1979). Across all 24 jurisdictions BuildingCensus covers, the 3,812 hotel buildings average an ENERGY STAR score of 65 and a site EUI of 77.8 kBtu/ft².

How has Le Meridien Essex Chicago's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 9 Chicago disclosures for Le Meridien Essex Chicago, covering report years 2015–2023. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 54 in 2015 to 59 in 2023 (+5 points); its best year on file was 2017, at 83. Site EUI moved from 128.2 kBtu/ft² (2015) to 100.8 kBtu/ft² (2023), a 21% decrease. Reported emissions went from 2,156 tCO₂e to 853 tCO₂e over the same span (down 60%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 59 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 59 means the building performs better than about 59% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 59 falls in band C — below median (55–69). It sits 16 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. Le Meridien Essex Chicago's 100.8 kBtu/ft² across 98,727 sq ft works out to about 10 billion Btu (2,917 MWh-equivalent) in 2023. Its source EUI of 172.1 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 1,095,354 kWh of electricity, 62,181 therms of natural gas and 4 thousand gallons of water for the year.

Which law requires Le Meridien Essex Chicago to report its energy use?

Le Meridien Essex Chicago 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:157986:2023). Covered buildings that fail to benchmark and report face fines of up to $100 plus $25 per day of violation under the ordinance.