601 W Polk Street
🚨
Chicago Building ID: 255504
Building Info
- Square Footage
- 104,000 sqftLower than 62% of all buildings0.7x median139,707 sqft0.6x median Data Center170,000 sqft
- Built
- 1918
- Primary Property Type
- Data Center
- Community Area
- Near West Side
-
Chicago Energy Rating
- 4.0 / 4
-
Energy Star Score
- 85 / 100
- Owner
Emissions & Energy Information for 2022
- Greenhouse Gas Intensity
- 62.2 kg CO2e / sqft#5 Highest in Chicago* 🚨10x median6.4 kg CO2e / sqft0.8x median Data Center77.8 kg CO2e / sqft
- Total Greenhouse Gas Emissions
- 6,467 tons CO2eHigher than 95% of all buildings7x median885.8 tons CO2e0.5x median Data Center11,895.4 tons CO2e
Years Reported 3/4 C
2019
2020
2021
2022
Energy Breakdown
- Natural Gas Use
- 0 kBtuLower than 97% of all buildingsMedian Chicago Building5,818,399.6 kBtuThis Building Didn't Burn Any Natural Gas! 🎉
This building burned no natural gas on-site and isn't connected to a district heating system, meaning it's fully electric! View Chicago's Biggest Gas Free Buildings .
- Electricity Use
- 49,099,102.8 kBtuEst. Electric Bill: $2,058,000 for 2022**Higher than 97% of all buildings13x median3,796,376.7 kBtu0.5x median Data Center90,051,317 kBtu
Energy Mix
Total Energy Use: 49,099,103 kBTU
View Extra Technical Info
- Source Energy Usage Intensity
- 1,321.9 kBtu / sqft#5 Highest in Chicago* 🚨10x median132.2 kBtu / sqft0.8x median Data Center1,655 kBtu / sqft
- Site Energy Usage Intensity
- 472.1 kBtu / sqft#9 Highest in Chicago* 🚨6x median78.4 kBtu / sqft0.8x median Data Center593.2 kBtu / sqft
Full Historical Data Table
| Year | Floor Area sqft |
Chicago Energy Rating |
Energy Star Score | GHG Intensity kg CO2e / sqft | GHG Emissions metric tons CO2e | Source EUI kBTU / sqft | Electricity Use kBTU | Natural Gas Use kBTU |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 104,000 | 1.0 | 17 | 69.8 | 7,255.5 | 1174.2 | 43,612,422 | - |
| 2021 | 104,000 | 4.0 | 73 | 65.7 | 6,829 | 1287.3 | 47,813,516 | 0 |
| 2022 | 104,000 | 4.0 | 85 | 62.2 | 6,467 | 1321.9 | 49,099,102 | 0 |
* Note on Rankings: Rankings and medians are among included buildings, which are those who reported under the Chicago Energy Benchmarking Ordinance for the year 2022, which only applies to buildings over 50,000 square feet.
** Note on Bill Estimates:
Estimates for gas and electric bills are based on average electric and gas retail
prices for Chicago in 2021 and are rounded. We expect large buildings
would negotiate lower rates with utilities, but these estimates serve as an upper bound of
cost and help understand the volume of energy a building is used by comparing it to your own
energy bills!
See our
Chicago Gas & Electric Costs Source
for the original statistics.
Data Source:
Chicago Energy Benchmarking Data
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: