University Center Chicago

525 S State St, Chicago IL, 60605 Find on Google Maps

Chicago Building ID: 166264

Building Info

Square Footage: 674,000 sqft
Higher than 83% of all buildings
2.3x median
296,415 sqft
2.1x median Multifamily Housing
322,820 sqft
Built: 2004
Primary Property Type: Multifamily Housing
Community Area: Loop
Chicago Energy Rating: 4.0 / 4
Energy Star Score: 82 / 100
Owner

Emissions & Energy Information

For 2020

Greenhouse Gas Intensity: 6.2 kg CO₂e / sqft
Lower than 77% of all buildings
0.8x median
7.7 kg CO₂e / sqft
0.9x median Multifamily Housing
6.8 kg CO₂e / sqft
Total Greenhouse Gas Emissions: 4,188.8 metric tons CO₂ eq.
Higher than 80% of all buildings
2.0x median
2,063.4 metric tons CO₂ eq.
2.2x median Multifamily Housing
1,946.6 metric tons CO₂ eq.
Source Energy Usage Intensity: 114.8 kBtu / sqft
Lower than 77% of all buildings
0.8x median
143.1 kBtu / sqft
0.9x median Multifamily Housing
127.9 kBtu / sqft
Site Energy Usage Intensity: 62.2 kBtu / sqft
Lower than 75% of all buildings
0.8x median
81.9 kBtu / sqft
0.8x median Multifamily Housing
77.9 kBtu / sqft
Natural Gas Use: 22,864,670.2 kBtu
Higher than 79% of all buildings
1.8x median
12,367,856.3 kBtu
1.6x median Multifamily Housing
14,588,457.9 kBtu
Electricity Use: 19,057,616.7 kBtu
Higher than 81% of all buildings
2.2x median
8,755,592 kBtu
2.6x median Multifamily Housing
7,427,110.9 kBtu

* Important Note: Rankings and medians are among included buildings, which are those who reported under the Chicago Energy Benchmarking Ordinance for the year 2020 with emissions greater than 1,000 metric tons.

Data Source: Chicago Energy Benchmarking Data Covered Buildings

What Should We Do About This?

Practically every building has room to improve with energy efficiency upgrades like insulation, switching to ENERGY STAR rated appliances, and more, but for any buildings with large natural gas use, we recommend one thing: electrify!

In other words, buildings should look to move all on-site uses of fossil fuels (including space heating, water heating, and cooking) to electrically powered systems like industrial grade heat pumps, heat pump water heaters, and induction stoves. With Illinois' current electric supply, just using the same amount of energy from electricity, rather than natural gas (aka methane) will dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This is because Illinois' grid in 2020 was already 67% carbon-free (see Illinois - Power | DecarbMyState ). This has already been done across the country with a variety of buildings, large and small, like the Hotel Marcel .

You can help make this a reality by talking to building owners and letting them know that a building's emissions are important to you, and that you want to see their building become fully electric and stop emitting greenhouse gases. Particularly for buildings you have a financial stake in (like your university, work, condo building, or apartment building) your voice in concert with your fellow building users can have a huge impact.

Additional Resources

See some additional resources on improving energy efficiency and understanding this data: