River Bank Lofts Condominium Association

How does River Bank 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. River Bank Lofts Condominium Association's ENERGY STAR score of 97 compares with an average of 62 across the 1,472 that report a score; it scores higher than 92% of them and lower than 7%. Its site EUI of 38.1 kBtu/ft² is about half of 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 3.3 kgCO₂e/ft² is about 43% below the group average of 5.8 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 257,529 sq ft, it is about 25% above the average floor area of 206,097 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1905, 66 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 River Bank Lofts Condominium Association's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 9 Chicago disclosures for River Bank Lofts Condominium Association, covering report years 2015–2023. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 91 in 2015 to 97 in 2023 (+6 points); its best year on file was 2022, at 98. Site EUI moved from 38.0 kBtu/ft² (2015) to 38.1 kBtu/ft² (2023), an 0% increase. Reported emissions went from 1,196 tCO₂e to 848 tCO₂e over the same span (down 29%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 97 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 97 means the building performs better than about 97% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 97 falls in band A — high performer (85–100). 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. River Bank Lofts Condominium Association's 38.1 kBtu/ft² across 257,529 sq ft works out to about 9.8 billion Btu (2,876 MWh-equivalent) in 2023. Its source EUI of 65.6 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 1,103,459 kWh of electricity and 60,422 therms of natural gas for the year.

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

River Bank 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:160368:2023). Covered buildings that fail to benchmark and report face fines of up to $100 plus $25 per day of violation under the ordinance.