Shields Middle

How does Shields Middle 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. Shields Middle's ENERGY STAR score of 52 compares with an average of 45 across the 365 that report a score; it scores higher than 61% of them and lower than 38%. Its site EUI of 52.5 kBtu/ft² is about 28% 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 5.3 kgCO₂e/ft² is about 15% below the group average of 6.2 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 95,265 sq ft, it is about 22% below the average floor area of 121,824 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 2012, 69 years later 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 Shields Middle's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 9 Chicago disclosures for Shields Middle, covering report years 2015–2023. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 67 in 2015 to 52 in 2023 (-15 points); its best year on file was 2017, at 70. Site EUI moved from 63.3 kBtu/ft² (2015) to 52.5 kBtu/ft² (2023), a 17% decrease. Reported emissions went from 755 tCO₂e to 502 tCO₂e over the same span (down 34%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 52 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 52 means the building performs better than about 52% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 52 falls in band D — lowest band (1–54). It sits 23 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. Shields Middle's 52.5 kBtu/ft² across 95,265 sq ft works out to about 5 billion Btu (1,466 MWh-equivalent) in 2023. Its source EUI of 105.1 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 797,224 kWh of electricity and 22,855 therms of natural gas for the year.

Which law requires Shields Middle to report its energy use?

Shields Middle 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:251723:2023). Covered buildings that fail to benchmark and report face fines of up to $100 plus $25 per day of violation under the ordinance.