The Oaks

How does The Oaks 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 Oaks's ENERGY STAR score of 63 compares with an average of 62 across the 1,472 that report a score; it scores higher than 47% of them and lower than 53%. Its site EUI of 83.8 kBtu/ft² is about 16% above the average of 72.0 kBtu/ft² — it uses more energy per square foot than the typical building in that group. Its emissions intensity of 5.8 kgCO₂e/ft² is roughly in line with the group average of 5.8 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 157,844 sq ft, it is about 23% below the average floor area of 206,097 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1979, 8 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 Oaks's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 8 Chicago disclosures for The Oaks, covering report years 2016–2023. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 60 in 2016 to 63 in 2023 (+3 points). Site EUI moved from 87.2 kBtu/ft² (2016) to 83.8 kBtu/ft² (2023), a 4% decrease. Reported emissions went from 1,147 tCO₂e to 910 tCO₂e over the same span (down 21%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 63 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 63 means the building performs better than about 63% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 63 falls in band C — below median (55–69). It sits 12 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. The Oaks's 83.8 kBtu/ft² across 157,844 sq ft works out to about 13.2 billion Btu (3,877 MWh-equivalent) in 2023. Its source EUI of 114.5 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 701,836 kWh of electricity and 108,318 therms of natural gas for the year.

Which law requires The Oaks to report its energy use?

The Oaks 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:172765:2023). Covered buildings that fail to benchmark and report face fines of up to $100 plus $25 per day of violation under the ordinance.