The Denifer

How does The Denifer 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. The Denifer's ENERGY STAR score of 82 compares with an average of 62 across the 1,472 that report a score; it scores higher than 69% of them and lower than 30%. Its site EUI of 66.1 kBtu/ft² is roughly in line with 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 4.4 kgCO₂e/ft² is about 24% below the group average of 5.8 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 81,600 sq ft, it is about 60% below the average floor area of 206,097 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1990, 19 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 The Denifer's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 6 Chicago disclosures for The Denifer, covering report years 2018–2023. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 86 in 2019 to 82 in 2023 (-4 points); its best year on file was 2019, at 86. Site EUI moved from 70.2 kBtu/ft² (2019) to 66.1 kBtu/ft² (2023), a 6% decrease. Reported emissions went from 437 tCO₂e to 358 tCO₂e over the same span (down 18%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 82 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 82 means the building performs better than about 82% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 82 falls in band B — above median (70–84). 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. The Denifer's 66.1 kBtu/ft² across 81,600 sq ft works out to about 5.4 billion Btu (1,581 MWh-equivalent) in 2023. Its source EUI of 87.0 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 241,437 kWh of electricity and 45,676 therms of natural gas for the year.

Which law requires The Denifer to report its energy use?

The Denifer 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:173874:2023). Covered buildings that fail to benchmark and report face fines of up to $100 plus $25 per day of violation under the ordinance.