Noca Blu

How does Noca Blu 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. Noca Blu's ENERGY STAR score of 78 compares with an average of 62 across the 1,472 that report a score; it scores higher than 63% of them and lower than 35%. Its site EUI of 59.2 kBtu/ft² is about 18% 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 5.9 kgCO₂e/ft² is roughly in line with the group average of 5.8 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 126,388 sq ft, it is about 39% below the average floor area of 206,097 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 2018, 47 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 Noca Blu's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 5 Chicago disclosures for Noca Blu, covering report years 2019–2023. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 1 in 2020 to 78 in 2023 (+77 points). Site EUI moved from 221.3 kBtu/ft² (2020) to 59.2 kBtu/ft² (2023), a 73% decrease. Reported emissions went from 1,468 tCO₂e to 742 tCO₂e over the same span (down 49%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 78 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 78 means the building performs better than about 78% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 78 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. Noca Blu's 59.2 kBtu/ft² across 126,388 sq ft works out to about 7.5 billion Btu (2,193 MWh-equivalent) in 2023. Its source EUI of 117.1 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 1,162,630 kWh of electricity, 35,194 therms of natural gas and 1,955 thousand gallons of water for the year.

Which law requires Noca Blu to report its energy use?

Noca Blu 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:256538:2023). Covered buildings that fail to benchmark and report face fines of up to $100 plus $25 per day of violation under the ordinance.