Snell-Hitchcock

How does Snell-Hitchcock compare with other residence hall/dormitory buildings in Chicago?

The latest disclosures cover 25 residence hall/dormitory buildings in Chicago, out of 3,852 buildings citywide. Snell-Hitchcock's ENERGY STAR score of 69 compares with an average of 64 across the 18 that report a score; it scores higher than 44% of them and lower than 44%. Its site EUI of 67.9 kBtu/ft² is about 19% below the average of 83.6 kBtu/ft² — it uses less energy per square foot than the typical building in that group. Its emissions intensity of 5.9 kgCO₂e/ft² is about 17% below the group average of 7.1 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 73,837 sq ft, it is about 56% below the average floor area of 167,953 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1902, 74 years earlier than the group's average year built (1977). Across all 24 jurisdictions BuildingCensus covers, the 702 residence hall/dormitory buildings average an ENERGY STAR score of 70 and a site EUI of 70.7 kBtu/ft².

How has Snell-Hitchcock's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 8 Chicago disclosures for Snell-Hitchcock, covering report years 2016–2023. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 7 in 2016 to 69 in 2023 (+62 points); its best year on file was 2019, at 80. Site EUI moved from 155.3 kBtu/ft² (2016) to 67.9 kBtu/ft² (2023), a 56% decrease. Reported emissions went from 1,114 tCO₂e to 437 tCO₂e over the same span (down 61%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 69 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 69 means the building performs better than about 69% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 69 falls in band C — below median (55–69). It sits 6 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. Snell-Hitchcock's 67.9 kBtu/ft² across 73,837 sq ft works out to about 5 billion Btu (1,469 MWh-equivalent) in 2023. Its source EUI of 112.4 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 417,568 kWh of electricity, 783 therms of natural gas and 46 thousand gallons of water for the year.

Which law requires Snell-Hitchcock to report its energy use?

Snell-Hitchcock 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:173930:2023). Covered buildings that fail to benchmark and report face fines of up to $100 plus $25 per day of violation under the ordinance.