The Towers CA

How does The Towers CA 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 Towers CA's ENERGY STAR score of 54 compares with an average of 62 across the 1,472 that report a score; it scores higher than 36% of them and lower than 64%. Its site EUI of 53.0 kBtu/ft² is about 26% below 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 6.3 kgCO₂e/ft² is roughly in line with the group average of 5.8 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 217,800 sq ft, it is roughly in line with the average floor area of 206,097 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1974, 3 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 Towers CA's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 8 Chicago disclosures for The Towers CA, covering report years 2016–2023. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 92 in 2016 to 54 in 2023 (-38 points); its best year on file was 2016, at 92. Site EUI moved from 43.4 kBtu/ft² (2016) to 53.0 kBtu/ft² (2023), an 22% increase. Reported emissions went from 1,298 tCO₂e to 1,365 tCO₂e over the same span (up 5%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 54 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 54 means the building performs better than about 54% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 54 falls in band D — lowest band (1–54). It sits 21 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 Towers CA's 53.0 kBtu/ft² across 217,800 sq ft works out to about 11.5 billion Btu (3,383 MWh-equivalent) in 2023. Its source EUI of 125.2 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 2,538,378 kWh of electricity and 28,817 therms of natural gas for the year.

Which law requires The Towers CA to report its energy use?

The Towers CA 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:244817:2023). Covered buildings that fail to benchmark and report face fines of up to $100 plus $25 per day of violation under the ordinance.