College/University buildings in Chicago
92 college/university buildings benchmarked under Building Energy Use Benchmarking Ordinance, graded by ENERGY STAR score.
At a glance
92 college/university buildings in Chicago disclose their energy use under the Building Energy Use Benchmarking Ordinance, 2% of the city's 3,852 benchmarked buildings and its 6th-largest property type. They average a site EUI of 96.2 kBtu/ft².
Top of the class
Most efficient
| Building | Score | Site EUI | Floor area |
|---|
Penalty exposure
Least efficient
| Building | Score | Site EUI | Floor area |
|---|
Scale
Largest
| Building | Score | Site EUI | Floor area |
|---|---|---|---|
| Illinois Institute of Technology | –— | 168.4 kBtu/ft² | 2,944,091 sq ft |
| Olive-Harvey College - South Side Learning Center - Board of Trustees, Community | –— | 12.9 kBtu/ft² | 2,925,925 sq ft |
| Northeastern Illinois University | –— | 113.0 kBtu/ft² | 1,258,489 sq ft |
| Chicago State University Campus | –— | 56.7 kBtu/ft² | 1,170,487 sq ft |
| Truman College | –— | 61.7 kBtu/ft² | 954,142 sq ft |
| DePaul Center | –— | 57.3 kBtu/ft² | 701,699 sq ft |
| Auditorium Building | –— | 38.2 kBtu/ft² | 598,474 sq ft |
| New Malcolm X College | –— | 83.0 kBtu/ft² | 545,000 sq ft |
| Wright College | –— | 109.0 kBtu/ft² | 544,380 sq ft |
| Old Malcolm X College | –— | — | 541,575 sq ft |
How do Chicago's college/university buildings compare with the rest of the city?
Average site EUI is 96.2 kBtu/ft², about 14% above the city's 84.4 kBtu/ft² across all property types. Emissions intensity averages 8.9 kgCO₂e/ft², about 19% above the citywide 7.5. Together they reported 208,480 tCO₂e in their latest years, 4% of the city's disclosed building emissions.
How do Chicago's college/university buildings compare nationally?
Across all 24 jurisdictions BuildingCensus covers there are 2,113 college/university buildings, averaging an ENERGY STAR score of 68 and a site EUI of 98.7 kBtu/ft². Chicago has the 7th-most college/university buildings of the 13 jurisdictions with at least 25.
How big and how old are Chicago's college/university buildings?
The average college/university building here has 280,683 sq ft of floor area, about 15% above the citywide average of 244,008 sq ft. Together they cover 25.0 million square feet. The average year built is 1970, against 1967 for all disclosed buildings in the city. The largest is Illinois Institute of Technology, at 2,944,091 sq ft.
More on Chicago's buildings
- All Chicago benchmarked buildings· Building Energy Use Benchmarking Ordinance
- Multifamily Housing buildings in Chicago· 1,515 buildings
- K-12 School buildings in Chicago· 543 buildings
- Office buildings in Chicago· 387 buildings
- Residential buildings in Chicago· 327 buildings
- Commercial buildings in Chicago· 133 buildings
- Hotel buildings in Chicago· 88 buildings
- College/University buildings in New York City· 553 buildings
- College/University buildings in California· 497 buildings
- College/University buildings in Boston· 316 buildings
- College/University buildings in Cambridge· 203 buildings
- College/University buildings in Washington, DC· 114 buildings
- College/University buildings in Philadelphia· 101 buildings
- Most efficient large buildings in Chicago
- Biggest emitters in Chicago
Frequently asked questions
How efficient are Chicago's college/university buildings?
The 92 benchmarked college/university buildings in Chicago report no ENERGY STAR scores and a site energy-use intensity of 96.2 kBtu/ft² in their latest disclosures under the Building Energy Use Benchmarking Ordinance.
What is the largest college/university building in Chicago?
Illinois Institute of Technology, with 2,944,091 sq ft of gross floor area in its latest disclosure.
About this data
Source: Chicago Energy Benchmarking (Building Energy Use Benchmarking Ordinance), as published October 2, 2026. See the methodology for how records are matched, cleaned and scored.
Cite as: BuildingCensus, “College/University buildings in Chicago”, https://buildingcensus.com/buildings/chicago/type/college-university (data as of October 2, 2026).