Crerar Library

5730 S Ellis Ave, Chicago IL, 60637 Find on Google Maps

Chicago Building ID: 252038

Building Info

Square Footage: 168,656 sqft
Higher than 58% of all buildings
1.2x median
139,707 sqft
1.3x median Library
125,828 sqft
Built: 1984
Primary Property Type: Library
Community Area: Hyde Park
Chicago Energy Rating: 3.0 / 4
Owner

Emissions & Energy Information for 2022

Greenhouse Gas Intensity: 9.4 kg CO₂e / sqft
#2 Lowest of Librarys 🏆
Higher than 84% of all buildings
1.5x median
6.4 kg CO₂e / sqft
0.8x median Library
12.2 kg CO₂e / sqft
Total Greenhouse Gas Emissions: 1,581.8 tons CO₂e
Higher than 70% of all buildings
1.8x median
885.8 tons CO₂e
1.1x median Library
1,385.2 tons CO₂e

Years Reported 7/8 B

2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022

Energy Breakdown

Natural Gas Use: 9,229 kBtu
Est. Gas Bill: $100 for 2022**
Lower than 93% of all buildings
1/630 median
5,818,399.6 kBtu
1/42 median Library
387,594.5 kBtu
Electricity Use: 5,079,760.7 kBtu
Est. Electric Bill: $213,000 for 2022**
Higher than 60% of all buildings
1.3x median
3,796,376.7 kBtu
0.9x median Library
5,415,153.3 kBtu
District Steam Use: 7,570,150.7 kBtu
Most buildings don't use district steam, so we don't currently have comparison data.
District Chilled Water Use: 7,771,319.9 kBtu
Most buildings don't use district chilling, so we don't currently have comparison data.

Energy Mix

Total Energy Use: 20,430,460 kBTU

View Extra Technical Info

Source Energy Usage Intensity: 180.3 kBtu / sqft
#2 Lowest of Librarys 🏆
Higher than 80% of all buildings
1.4x median
132.2 kBtu / sqft
0.7x median Library
245.3 kBtu / sqft
Site Energy Usage Intensity: 121.1 kBtu / sqft
Higher than 87% of all buildings
1.5x median
78.4 kBtu / sqft
1.0x median Library
121.9 kBtu / sqft

Full Historical Data Table

Year	Floor Area sqft	Chicago Energy Rating	GHG Intensity kg CO₂e / sqft	GHG Emissions metric tons CO₂e	Source EUI kBTU / sqft	Electricity Use kBTU	Natural Gas Use kBTU	District Steam Use kBTU
2015	168,656	-	8.9	1,493	146.4	5,071,621	-	4,258,986
2016	168,656	-	8.8	1,482.3	154.7	4,920,503	-	4,869,287
2018	168,656	2.0	10.0	1,685.1	172.6	5,222,751	-	6,841,095
2019	168,656	2.0	10.4	1,750.3	185.2	5,859,038	-	7,115,046
2020	168,656	3.0	9.1	1,527.2	161.7	5,231,080	10,380	6,201,409
2021	168,656	1.0	11.2	1,881	206.1	5,268,493	9,645	9,153,455
2022	168,656	3.0	9.4	1,581.8	180.3	5,079,760	9,229	7,570,150

* 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: