Mitchell

How does Mitchell compare with other K-12 school buildings in Chicago?

The latest disclosures cover 543 K-12 school buildings in Chicago, out of 3,852 buildings citywide. Mitchell's ENERGY STAR score of 77 compares with an average of 45 across the 365 that report a score; it scores higher than 88% of them and lower than 11%. Its site EUI of 53.6 kBtu/ft² is about 26% below the average of 72.7 kBtu/ft² — it uses less energy per square foot than the typical building in that group. Its emissions intensity of 4.0 kgCO₂e/ft² is about 35% below the group average of 6.2 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 56,385 sq ft, it is about half of the average floor area of 121,824 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1892, 51 years earlier than the group's average year built (1943). Across all 24 jurisdictions BuildingCensus covers, the 6,548 K-12 school buildings average an ENERGY STAR score of 64 and a site EUI of 52.7 kBtu/ft².

How has Mitchell's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 9 Chicago disclosures for Mitchell, covering report years 2015–2023. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 87 in 2015 to 77 in 2023 (-10 points); its best year on file was 2015, at 87. Site EUI moved from 59.5 kBtu/ft² (2015) to 53.6 kBtu/ft² (2023), a 10% decrease. Reported emissions went from 328 tCO₂e to 224 tCO₂e over the same span (down 32%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 77 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 77 means the building performs better than about 77% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 77 falls in band B — above median (70–84). Scores of 75 or higher meet the threshold for ENERGY STAR certification; certification itself is a separate, verified application that the disclosure does not record. 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. Mitchell's 53.6 kBtu/ft² across 56,385 sq ft works out to about 3 billion Btu (886 MWh-equivalent) in 2023. Its source EUI of 78.8 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 212,345 kWh of electricity and 23,000 therms of natural gas for the year.

Which law requires Mitchell to report its energy use?

Mitchell 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:251373:2023). Covered buildings that fail to benchmark and report face fines of up to $100 plus $25 per day of violation under the ordinance.