Thorek Memorial Hospital

How does Thorek Memorial Hospital compare with other hospital (general medical & surgical) buildings in Chicago?

The latest disclosures cover 25 hospital (general medical & surgical) buildings in Chicago, out of 3,852 buildings citywide. Thorek Memorial Hospital's ENERGY STAR score of 88 compares with an average of 56 across the 21 that report a score; it scores higher than 76% of them and lower than 14%. Its site EUI of 199.9 kBtu/ft² is about 13% below the average of 229.9 kBtu/ft² — it uses less energy per square foot than the typical building in that group. Its emissions intensity of 17.8 kgCO₂e/ft² is about 13% below the group average of 20.4 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 205,000 sq ft, it is about 78% below the average floor area of 920,964 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1981, 15 years later than the group's average year built (1967). Across all 24 jurisdictions BuildingCensus covers, the 748 hospital (general medical & surgical) buildings average an ENERGY STAR score of 59 and a site EUI of 238.7 kBtu/ft².

How has Thorek Memorial Hospital's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 9 Chicago disclosures for Thorek Memorial Hospital, covering report years 2015–2023. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 97 in 2015 to 88 in 2023 (-9 points); its best year on file was 2018, at 98. Site EUI moved from 156.0 kBtu/ft² (2015) to 199.9 kBtu/ft² (2023), an 28% increase. Reported emissions went from 3,896 tCO₂e to 3,641 tCO₂e over the same span (down 7%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 88 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 88 means the building performs better than about 88% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 88 falls in band A — high performer (85–100). 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. Thorek Memorial Hospital's 199.9 kBtu/ft² across 205,000 sq ft works out to about 41 billion Btu (12,010 MWh-equivalent) in 2023. Its source EUI of 353.9 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 4,943,416 kWh of electricity and 241,125 therms of natural gas for the year.

Which law requires Thorek Memorial Hospital to report its energy use?

Thorek Memorial Hospital 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:164922:2023). Covered buildings that fail to benchmark and report face fines of up to $100 plus $25 per day of violation under the ordinance.