All Buildings By Greenhouse Gas Intensity

These are the Chicago's benchmarked buildings that reported the highest greenhouse gas intensity i.e. emissions per square foot. Large, efficient, buildings can perform much better than very inefficient small buildings on this metric.

Note: Data From Large Buildings in 2023

Note: This data only includes buildings whose emissions are reported under the Chicago Energy Benchmarking Ordinance. According to the City “As of 2016, this list includes all commercial, institutional, and residential buildings larger than 50,000 square feet.”

The latest year of data is from 2023, but we update the site regularly when new data is available, and some buildings may have failed to report that year, and only have older data available.

Additionally, note that all tons specified are metric tons.

Name / Address	Primary Property Type	GHG Intensity (kg CO₂ eq./sqft)	Total GHG Emissions (tons CO₂ eq.)
The Field Museum 🚩 📷 1400 South Lake Shore Drive	Mixed Use Property	11.3 kg/sqft Highest 8%	14,449 tons #32 Highest
Harlem-Foster Shopping Center 7240 West Foster Avenue	Strip Mall	11.3 kg/sqft Highest 8%	3,088 tons Highest 12%
The Professional Building (Central Campus Health Center) 1950 W. Polk St.	Office	11.2 kg/sqft Highest 8%	3,146 tons Highest 12%
Gateway Centre 175603 Building A (Marshalls) ⚠️ 1701-1741 W. Howard	Strip Mall	11.2 kg/sqft Highest 8%	744 tons Lowest 45%
AMA Plaza 🚩 📷 330 North Wabash	Office	11.2 kg/sqft Highest 8%	20,895 tons #12 Highest
1123 - The Allegro Royal Sonesta - 171 W Randolph - SVC 171 W Randolph St	Hotel	11.2 kg/sqft Highest 8%	4,300 tons Highest 8%
Gunsaulus Hall 🕰️ ⚠️ (Illinois Tech) 3140 S Michigan Avenue	Residence Hall/Dormitory	11.1 kg/sqft	924 tons
Freedom Center 825 N. Christiana	Residence Hall/Dormitory	11.1 kg/sqft Highest 9%	2,048 tons Highest 21%
Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center 1250 W. 119th St.	Fitness Center/Health Club/Gym	11.1 kg/sqft Highest 9%	1,760 tons Highest 25%
5141 N Christiana Ave. ⚠️ (North Park) 5141 N Christiana Ave.	College/University	11.1 kg/sqft Highest 9%	1,118 tons Highest 40%
Professional Office Building ⚡ 840 W. Irving Park Rd	Medical Office	11.1 kg/sqft Highest 9%	573 tons Lowest 34%
HAROLD WASHINGTON LIBRARY 📷 ⚡ (Chicago) 400 S. State St.	Library	11.1 kg/sqft Highest 9%	8,380 tons Highest 3%
South Sauganash Condo Assoc (6000-6038 N. Cicero Ave.) 6000 N. Cicero Ave	Multifamily Housing	11.1 kg/sqft Highest 9%	2,492 tons Highest 16%
839 W. 79th 📷 ⚡ 839 W. 79th Street	Office	11.1 kg/sqft Highest 9%	600 tons Lowest 36%
30 W OAK ST 🕰️ ⚠️ 30 W OAK ST	Multifamily Housing	11.1 kg/sqft	1,985 tons

Data Source: Chicago Energy Benchmarking Data