Union Park Lofts Condominium Association

How does Union Park Lofts Condominium Association 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. Union Park Lofts Condominium Association's ENERGY STAR score of 98 compares with an average of 62 across the 1,472 that report a score; it scores higher than 93% of them and lower than 4%. Its site EUI of 35.3 kBtu/ft² is about half of 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 3.1 kgCO₂e/ft² is about half of the group average of 5.8 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 100,200 sq ft, it is about half of the average floor area of 206,097 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 2006, 35 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 Union Park Lofts Condominium Association's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 8 Chicago disclosures for Union Park Lofts Condominium Association, covering report years 2016–2023. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 99 in 2016 to 98 in 2023 (-1 points); its best year on file was 2016, at 99. Site EUI moved from 36.4 kBtu/ft² (2016) to 35.3 kBtu/ft² (2023), a 3% decrease. Reported emissions went from 377 tCO₂e to 308 tCO₂e over the same span (down 18%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 98 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 98 means the building performs better than about 98% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 98 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. Union Park Lofts Condominium Association's 35.3 kBtu/ft² across 100,200 sq ft works out to about 3.5 billion Btu (1,037 MWh-equivalent) in 2023. Its source EUI of 61.2 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 405,134 kWh of electricity and 21,567 therms of natural gas for the year.

Which law requires Union Park Lofts Condominium Association to report its energy use?

Union Park Lofts Condominium Association 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:137657:2023). Covered buildings that fail to benchmark and report face fines of up to $100 plus $25 per day of violation under the ordinance.