Find Out How Much Chicago Buildings Pollute

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Chicago's Most Emissions Intense Buildings

The buildings that reported the highest greenhouse gas emissions per square foot

Crown Hall
College/University
GHG Intensity
555.1
kg CO₂ / sqft
Total Emissions
30,138
tons CO₂e
Digital Lakeside
Data Center
GHG Intensity
142.1
kg CO₂ / sqft
Total Emissions
173,705
tons CO₂e
Hyde Park West Apartments
Multifamily Housing
GHG Intensity
126
kg CO₂ / sqft
Total Emissions
18,453
tons CO₂e
⚡ All Electric
CoreSite
Data Center
GHG Intensity
114.8
kg CO₂ / sqft
Total Emissions
18,365
tons CO₂e
Digital Printer's Row
Data Center
GHG Intensity
93.5
kg CO₂ / sqft
Total Emissions
17,323
tons CO₂e
Herman Hall
College/University
GHG Intensity
88.9
kg CO₂ / sqft
Total Emissions
9,883
tons CO₂e
Shop & Save Market - Nagle
Supermarket/Grocery Store
GHG Intensity
83.7
kg CO₂ / sqft
Total Emissions
5,584
tons CO₂e
Life Sciences Research Building
College/University
GHG Intensity
80.7
kg CO₂ / sqft
Total Emissions
8,317
tons CO₂e
6045 Kenwood Building
Office
GHG Intensity
79.7
kg CO₂ / sqft
Total Emissions
7,899
tons CO₂e
Salem Baptist Church of Chicago
Worship Facility
GHG Intensity
78
kg CO₂ / sqft
Total Emissions
7,160
tons CO₂e

Featured Chicago Buildings

Check out some of Chicago’s most famous buildings, and learn how they use energy

⚡ All Electric
Marina Towers Condominium Association
Multifamily Housing
GHG Intensity
5.6
kg CO₂ / sqft
Total Emissions
4,309
tons CO₂e
Aqua
Multifamily Housing
GHG Intensity
5.4
kg CO₂ / sqft
Total Emissions
8,464
tons CO₂e
John G Shedd Aquarium
Other
GHG Intensity
21.3
kg CO₂ / sqft
Total Emissions
9,640
tons CO₂e
The Art Institute of Chicago
Museum
GHG Intensity
18.9
kg CO₂ / sqft
Total Emissions
19,068
tons CO₂e
Merchandise Mart
Office
GHG Intensity
4.7
kg CO₂ / sqft
Total Emissions
19,236
tons CO₂e
Willis Tower
Office
GHG Intensity
9.2
kg CO₂ / sqft
Total Emissions
41,766
tons CO₂e
The Monadnock Building
Office
GHG Intensity
2.7
kg CO₂ / sqft
Total Emissions
1,335
tons CO₂e
⚡ All Electric
The John Hancock Center
Mixed Use Property
GHG Intensity
7
kg CO₂ / sqft
Total Emissions
15,923
tons CO₂e

Our Research

📰 Do High Emitting Buildings Stop Reporting?
Mar. 6th, 2025

Many buildings in Chicago that fall under the benchmarking requirements don't report their energy use and emissions. We investigated if there was a pattern at play, and whether poor performing buildings stopped reporting at higher rates than good performers.

Read Our Full Research On Whether Poor Performance Impacts Reporting Rate.

📰 $30 Million In Missed Fines
Feb. 2nd, 2024

The City Of Chicago failed to collect $30 million in potential fines from the building benchmarking ordinance, reducing transparency and accountability.

Read Our Full Blog Post On Millions in Missed Fines.

Note: Data From Large Buildings in 2022

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 2022, 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.

Data Source: Chicago Energy Benchmarking Data