Metropolis

How does Metropolis 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. Metropolis'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 78.8 kBtu/ft² is roughly in line with the average of 72.0 kBtu/ft². Its emissions intensity of 7.2 kgCO₂e/ft² is about 24% above the group average of 5.8 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 218,624 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 Metropolis's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 8 Chicago disclosures for Metropolis, covering report years 2016–2023. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 30 in 2016 to 34 in 2023 (+4 points); its best year on file was 2022, at 54. Site EUI moved from 82.4 kBtu/ft² (2016) to 78.8 kBtu/ft² (2023), a 4% decrease. Reported emissions went from 2,115 tCO₂e to 1,585 tCO₂e over the same span (down 25%).

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. Metropolis's 78.8 kBtu/ft² across 218,624 sq ft works out to about 17.2 billion Btu (5,049 MWh-equivalent) in 2023. Its source EUI of 144.5 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 2,262,078 kWh of electricity, 95,055 therms of natural gas and 6,193 thousand gallons of water for the year.

Which law requires Metropolis to report its energy use?

Metropolis 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:158472:2023). Covered buildings that fail to benchmark and report face fines of up to $100 plus $25 per day of violation under the ordinance.