Presidential Towers (ps19;presto)

How does Presidential Towers (ps19;presto) 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. Presidential Towers (ps19;presto)'s ENERGY STAR score of 64 compares with an average of 62 across the 1,472 that report a score; it scores higher than 47% of them and lower than 51%. Its site EUI of 73.6 kBtu/ft² is roughly in line with the average of 72.0 kBtu/ft². Its emissions intensity of 5.9 kgCO₂e/ft² is roughly in line with the group average of 5.8 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 2,109,909 sq ft, it is about 924% above the average floor area of 206,097 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1986, 15 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 Presidential Towers (ps19;presto)'s energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 9 Chicago disclosures for Presidential Towers (ps19;presto), covering report years 2015–2023. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 73 in 2015 to 64 in 2023 (-9 points); its best year on file was 2017, at 97. Site EUI moved from 79.6 kBtu/ft² (2015) to 73.6 kBtu/ft² (2023), a 8% decrease. Reported emissions went from 18,468 tCO₂e to 12,510 tCO₂e over the same span (down 32%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 64 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 64 means the building performs better than about 64% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 64 falls in band C — below median (55–69). It sits 11 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. Presidential Towers (ps19;presto)'s 73.6 kBtu/ft² across 2,109,909 sq ft works out to about 155.3 billion Btu (45,511 MWh-equivalent) in 2023. Its source EUI of 118.0 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 14,401,715 kWh of electricity, 1,060,734 therms of natural gas and 90,201 thousand gallons of water for the year.

Which law requires Presidential Towers (ps19;presto) to report its energy use?

Presidential Towers (ps19;presto) 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:159510:2023). Covered buildings that fail to benchmark and report face fines of up to $100 plus $25 per day of violation under the ordinance.