Office buildings in Chicago
387 office buildings benchmarked under Building Energy Use Benchmarking Ordinance, graded by ENERGY STAR score.
At a glance
387 office buildings in Chicago disclose their energy use under the Building Energy Use Benchmarking Ordinance, 10% of the city's 3,852 benchmarked buildings and its 3rd-largest property type. They average an ENERGY STAR score of 69 (median 74) and a site EUI of 70.4 kBtu/ft². The top scorer is U.S. Cellular Plaza - 8420 _ Goby LLC, at 100.
Top of the class
Most efficient
| Building | Score | Site EUI | Floor area |
|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Cellular Plaza - 8420 _ Goby LLC | A100 | 3.7 kBtu/ft² | 212,651 sq ft |
| The Monadnock Building | A98 | 31.8 kBtu/ft² | 496,749 sq ft |
| 954 W Washington Blvd | A98 | 31.2 kBtu/ft² | 140,000 sq ft |
| Chicago Transit Authority - 120 N. Racine | A98 | 96.5 kBtu/ft² | 125,763 sq ft |
| 318 N. Carpenter | A98 | 30.5 kBtu/ft² | 104,849 sq ft |
| 400 South Jefferson - OPI | A97 | 33.4 kBtu/ft² | 275,487 sq ft |
| 1700-GGP Headquarters | A97 | 51.8 kBtu/ft² | 221,383 sq ft |
| CHCXILCW_IB00100005568/OB8292/2011 W HASTINGS ST/CHICAGO/IL | A96 | 48.4 kBtu/ft² | 206,000 sq ft |
| 210-220 N Green St. | A96 | 46.6 kBtu/ft² | 92,741 sq ft |
| 343 W Erie St | A96 | 19.5 kBtu/ft² | 85,700 sq ft |
| A&M 445 WEST ERIE, LLC | A96 | 31.0 kBtu/ft² | 52,681 sq ft |
| 120 South Riverside Plaza | A95 | 38.5 kBtu/ft² | 787,045 sq ft |
| Stewart Business Center | A95 | 29.8 kBtu/ft² | 114,880 sq ft |
| 24 East Washington Street | A94 | 41.5 kBtu/ft² | 707,816 sq ft |
| 625 W Adams St | A94 | 32.3 kBtu/ft² | 645,891 sq ft |
Penalty exposure
Least efficient
| Building | Score | Site EUI | Floor area |
|---|---|---|---|
| WGN Studios | D1 | 414.9 kBtu/ft² | 213,533 sq ft |
| State Lake LLC | D3 | 162.8 kBtu/ft² | 53,053 sq ft |
| U.S. Cellular Plaza - 8410 _ Goby LLC | D4 | 119.3 kBtu/ft² | 212,428 sq ft |
| Technology Business Center | D6 | 229.1 kBtu/ft² | 144,195 sq ft |
| 839 W. 79th | D9 | 79.4 kBtu/ft² | 54,000 sq ft |
| 820 N Orleans Street | D10 | 119.7 kBtu/ft² | 118,000 sq ft |
| 6 West Hubbard | D14 | 103.2 kBtu/ft² | 66,030 sq ft |
| 311 City Services | D14 | 147.0 kBtu/ft² | 59,000 sq ft |
| WTTW 11 - Main Campus | D22 | 78.1 kBtu/ft² | 183,047 sq ft |
| Evangelical Covenant Church | D22 | 107.0 kBtu/ft² | 44,575 sq ft |
| 420 N Wabash Ave | D23 | 129.6 kBtu/ft² | 102,450 sq ft |
| Twelve01West | D24 | 77.4 kBtu/ft² | 148,560 sq ft |
| 811 W Fulton | D25 | 125.7 kBtu/ft² | 64,877 sq ft |
| Cubs Office Building | D28 | 168.6 kBtu/ft² | 247,887 sq ft |
| 118 S Clinton | D29 | 66.1 kBtu/ft² | 78,751 sq ft |
Scale
Largest
| Building | Score | Site EUI | Floor area |
|---|---|---|---|
| Willis Tower (Rivion LLC) | D32 | 103.7 kBtu/ft² | 4,534,594 sq ft |
| theMART, Chicago | –— | 48.5 kBtu/ft² | 4,131,093 sq ft |
| Aon Center | B79 | 67.4 kBtu/ft² | 3,193,966 sq ft |
| 10/30 South Wacker | B72 | 49.0 kBtu/ft² | 3,014,304 sq ft |
| The Franklin (227 West Monroe; 222 West Adams) | A88 | 35.6 kBtu/ft² | 2,967,721 sq ft |
| OneTwoPru | B80 | 66.8 kBtu/ft² | 2,751,035 sq ft |
| Old Post Office | A88 | 70.7 kBtu/ft² | 2,493,160 sq ft |
| 135 S LaSalle Property LLC | –— | 51.1 kBtu/ft² | 2,453,127 sq ft |
| 600 West Chicago & 900 N Kingsbury | D39 | 93.6 kBtu/ft² | 2,376,470 sq ft |
| CH3 - Chicago 300 E Randolph | B75 | 55.3 kBtu/ft² | 2,224,842 sq ft |
How do Chicago's office buildings compare with the rest of the city?
Their average ENERGY STAR score of 69 is about 16% above the citywide average of 60. Average site EUI is 70.4 kBtu/ft², about 17% below the city's 84.4 kBtu/ft² across all property types. Emissions intensity averages 7.5 kgCO₂e/ft², roughly in line with the citywide 7.5. 49% of the scored office buildings reach 75 or higher, the ENERGY STAR certification threshold. Together they reported 1,170,205 tCO₂e in their latest years, 22% of the city's disclosed building emissions.
How do Chicago's office buildings compare nationally?
Across all 24 jurisdictions BuildingCensus covers there are 15,264 office buildings, averaging an ENERGY STAR score of 73 and a site EUI of 59.3 kBtu/ft². Chicago has the 10th-most office buildings of the 20 jurisdictions with at least 25. By average ENERGY STAR score it ranks 10th of 18; Los Angeles leads at 77.
How big and how old are Chicago's office buildings?
The average office building here has 488,124 sq ft of floor area, about twice the citywide average of 244,008 sq ft. Together they cover 172.8 million square feet. The average year built is 1957, against 1967 for all disclosed buildings in the city. The largest is Willis Tower (Rivion LLC), at 4,534,594 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
- Residential buildings in Chicago· 327 buildings
- Commercial buildings in Chicago· 133 buildings
- College/University buildings in Chicago· 92 buildings
- Hotel buildings in Chicago· 88 buildings
- Office buildings in California· 6,214 buildings
- Office buildings in New York City· 3,384 buildings
- Office buildings in Washington, DC· 899 buildings
- Office buildings in Los Angeles· 676 buildings
- Office buildings in Seattle· 497 buildings
- Office buildings in Boston· 467 buildings
- Most efficient large buildings in Chicago
- Biggest emitters in Chicago
Frequently asked questions
How efficient are Chicago's office buildings?
The 387 benchmarked office buildings in Chicago average an ENERGY STAR score of 69 and a site energy-use intensity of 70.4 kBtu/ft² in their latest disclosures under the Building Energy Use Benchmarking Ordinance.
Which office building in Chicago has the best energy grade?
U.S. Cellular Plaza - 8420 _ Goby LLC leads with an ENERGY STAR score of 100 across 212,651 sq ft.
How many office buildings in Chicago could qualify for ENERGY STAR certification?
49% of the 320 scored office buildings report a score of 75 or higher, the threshold for certification eligibility; certification itself is a separate, verified application.
What is the largest office building in Chicago?
Willis Tower (Rivion LLC), with 4,534,594 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, “Office buildings in Chicago”, https://buildingcensus.com/buildings/chicago/type/office (data as of October 2, 2026).