Sawyer
K-12 School in Chicago, IL · 5248 S Sawyer Ave · 60632
At a glance
Sawyer is a 163,308-square-foot K-12 school at 5248 S Sawyer Ave in Chicago, Illinois, built in 1901. In its 2023 Chicago benchmarking disclosure it reported an ENERGY STAR score of 46 out of 100 (grade D), a site energy-use intensity of 57.3 kBtu/ft² and 919 tCO₂e of greenhouse-gas emissions. That score is higher than 53% of the 365 scored K-12 school buildings in Chicago.
Building Energy Use Benchmarking Ordinance · reporting year 2023
Benchmarking record
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| ENERGY STAR score | 46 (band D) |
| Site EUI | 57.3 kBtu/ft² |
| Source EUI | 112.3 kBtu/ft² |
| GHG emissions | 919 tCO₂e |
| GHG intensity | 5.6 kgCO₂e/ft² |
| Electricity | 1,424,423 kWh |
| Natural gas | 44,984 therms |
| Gross floor area | 163,308 sq ft |
| Source record | chicago:251553:2023 |
The disclosure history
Year over year
| Year | Score | Δ | Site EUI | GHG emissions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023latest | 46 | -1 | 57.3 kBtu/ft² | 919 tCO₂e |
| 2022 | 47 | +19 | 70.2 kBtu/ft² | 989 tCO₂e |
| 2021 | 28 | -25 | 76.3 kBtu/ft² | 1,213 tCO₂e |
| 2020 | 53 | 63.7 kBtu/ft² | 977 tCO₂e | |
| 2019 | — | — | — | |
| 2018 | 32 | -50 | 86.0 kBtu/ft² | 1,352 tCO₂e |
| 2017 | 82 | +49 | 33.6 kBtu/ft² | 1,016 tCO₂e |
| 2016 | 33 | -13 | 87.7 kBtu/ft² | 1,600 tCO₂e |
| 2015 | 46 | 74.7 kBtu/ft² | 1,507 tCO₂e |
Compliance context
Building Energy Use Benchmarking Ordinance
Covered buildings that fail to benchmark and report face fines of up to $100 plus $25 per day of violation under the ordinance.
Ownership
No owning organisation shown. Names of private individuals in the disclosure are not published here.
Own or manage this building? Claim it to correct the record and get compliance alerts.
Location
- Address
- 5248 S Sawyer Ave
- City
- Chicago
- State
- Illinois
- ZIP
- 60632
- Coordinates
- 41.88168, -87.63250
Within ~1 km
Nearby benchmarked buildings
- theMART, Chicagoscore —
Office · 4,131,093 sq ft
- 10/30 South Wackerscore 72
Office · 3,014,304 sq ft
- Chase Tower Chicagoscore —
Financial Office · 2,521,929 sq ft
- AMA Plazascore 58
Office · 1,870,680 sq ft
- 71215A State Stscore 45
Retail Store · 1,841,736 sq ft
- 320 South Canalscore —
Office · 1,797,756 sq ft
See also: most efficient in Chicago · biggest emitters
How does Sawyer 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. Sawyer's ENERGY STAR score of 46 compares with an average of 45 across the 365 that report a score; it scores higher than 53% of them and lower than 45%. Its site EUI of 57.3 kBtu/ft² is about 21% 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 5.6 kgCO₂e/ft² is roughly in line with the group average of 6.2 kgCO₂e/ft².
At 163,308 sq ft, it is about 34% above the average floor area of 121,824 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1901, 42 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 Sawyer's energy performance changed over time?
BuildingCensus holds 9 Chicago disclosures for Sawyer, covering report years 2015–2023. Its ENERGY STAR score was 46 in both 2015 and 2023. Site EUI moved from 74.7 kBtu/ft² (2015) to 57.3 kBtu/ft² (2023), a 23% decrease. Reported emissions went from 1,507 tCO₂e to 919 tCO₂e over the same span (down 39%).
What does an ENERGY STAR score of 46 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 46 means the building performs better than about 46% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 46 falls in band D — lowest band (1–54). It sits 29 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. Sawyer's 57.3 kBtu/ft² across 163,308 sq ft works out to about 9.4 billion Btu (2,742 MWh-equivalent) in 2023. Its source EUI of 112.3 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 1,424,423 kWh of electricity and 44,984 therms of natural gas for the year.
Which law requires Sawyer to report its energy use?
Sawyer 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:251553:2023). Covered buildings that fail to benchmark and report face fines of up to $100 plus $25 per day of violation under the ordinance.
More K-12 school buildings in Chicago
- Dyett HS -CPS· 162,840 sq ft · score 3 (D)
- Englewood Stem HS· 160,000 sq ft · score 81 (B)
- Edwards· 159,369 sq ft · score 72 (B)
- Virtual Academy HS / ES· 159,140 sq ft · score 74 (B)
- Penn ES / Kipp Ascend· 158,325 sq ft · score 37 (D)
- Disney II HS· 156,960 sq ft · score 80 (B)
- K-12 School buildings in Chicago· 543 benchmarked
- All Chicago benchmarked buildings· Building Energy Use Benchmarking Ordinance
- Most efficient large buildings in Chicago
- Least efficient large buildings in Chicago
- Biggest emitters in Chicago
Frequently asked questions
What is Sawyer's energy grade?
Sawyer scores 46 out of 100 on ENERGY STAR — band D, lowest band (1–54) — in its 2023 Chicago disclosure. Scores are national percentiles against similar buildings; 75+ qualifies for ENERGY STAR certification.
How much energy does Sawyer use?
Its 2023 site energy-use intensity was 57.3 kBtu/ft² (112.3 kBtu/ft² source) across 163,308 sq ft, including 1,424,423 kWh of electricity and 44,984 therms of natural gas.
What are Sawyer's carbon emissions?
Sawyer reported 919 tCO₂e of greenhouse-gas emissions (5.6 kgCO₂e/ft²) for 2023.
Where is Sawyer?
Sawyer is at 5248 S Sawyer Ave, in Chicago, Illinois 60632. Its coordinates are 41.88168, -87.63250 (latitude, longitude), as published in the Chicago Energy Benchmarking file.
How big is Sawyer and when was it built?
Sawyer has 163,308 sq ft of gross floor area, as reported in its 2023 disclosure. The disclosure lists 1901 as its year built. It is classed as K-12 school.
Is Sawyer covered by the Building Energy Use Benchmarking Ordinance?
Yes — it appears in the 2023 Chicago Energy Benchmarking disclosure, which lists the buildings reporting under the Building Energy Use Benchmarking Ordinance.
Working with Chicago building benchmarking records? Pro adds alerts, change history and CSV export ($49/mo); Enterprise adds full national files, the API and an MCP server for AI tools.
About this data
Source: Chicago Energy Benchmarking (Building Energy Use Benchmarking Ordinance), as published October 2, 2026. See the methodology for how records are matched, cleaned and scored.
Cite as: BuildingCensus, “Sawyer, Chicago, Illinois — 2023 benchmarking disclosure”, https://buildingcensus.com/buildings/chicago/sawyer-5be72f72 (data as of October 2, 2026).