Paramount Lofts Condominium Association

How does Paramount Lofts Condominium Association 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. Paramount Lofts Condominium Association's ENERGY STAR score of 38 compares with an average of 62 across the 1,472 that report a score; it scores higher than 21% of them and lower than 79%. Its site EUI of 86.0 kBtu/ft² is about 19% above the average of 72.0 kBtu/ft² — it uses more energy per square foot than the typical building in that group. Its emissions intensity of 6.7 kgCO₂e/ft² is about 16% above the group average of 5.8 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 274,784 sq ft, it is about 33% above the average floor area of 206,097 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1923, 48 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 Paramount Lofts Condominium Association's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 9 Chicago disclosures for Paramount Lofts Condominium Association, covering report years 2015–2023. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 42 in 2016 to 38 in 2023 (-4 points); its best year on file was 2022, at 44. Site EUI moved from 88.8 kBtu/ft² (2015) to 86.0 kBtu/ft² (2023), a 3% decrease. Reported emissions went from 2,563 tCO₂e to 1,835 tCO₂e over the same span (down 28%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 38 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 38 means the building performs better than about 38% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 38 falls in band D — lowest band (1–54). It sits 37 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. Paramount Lofts Condominium Association's 86.0 kBtu/ft² across 274,784 sq ft works out to about 23.6 billion Btu (6,926 MWh-equivalent) in 2023. Its source EUI of 132.8 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 1,954,503 kWh of electricity and 169,709 therms of natural gas for the year.

Which law requires Paramount Lofts Condominium Association to report its energy use?

Paramount Lofts Condominium Association 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:251278:2023). Covered buildings that fail to benchmark and report face fines of up to $100 plus $25 per day of violation under the ordinance.