Freehand Hotel 

19 E OHIO ST, Chicago IL, 60611 Find on Google Maps (opens in a new tab)

Chicago Building ID: 130162

Building Info

Square Footage
73,250 sqft
Lower than 80% of all buildings
0.5x median
139,707 sqft
1/3 median Hotel
241,525.5 sqft
Built
1927
Primary Property Type
Hotel
Community Area
Near North Side
Owner
Not Tagged

Emissions & Energy Information for 2022

Greenhouse Gas Intensity
10.3 kg CO2e / sqft
Higher than 88% of all buildings
1.6x median
6.4 kg CO2e / sqft
1.1x median Hotel
9.4 kg CO2e / sqft
Total Greenhouse Gas Emissions
754.6 tons CO2e
#8 Lowest of Hotels 🏆
Lower than 57% of all buildings
0.9x median
885.8 tons CO2e
1/3 median Hotel
2,557.1 tons CO2e

Years Reported 7/7 A

  • 2016 data reported

    2016

  • 2017 data reported

    2017

  • 2018 data reported

    2018

  • 2019 data reported

    2019

  • 2020 data reported

    2020

  • 2021 data reported

    2021

  • 2022 data reported

    2022

Energy Breakdown

Natural Gas Use
4,333,158.8 kBtu
Est. Gas Bill: $52,000 for 2022**
Lower than 62% of all buildings
0.7x median
5,818,399.6 kBtu
1/3 median Hotel
12,698,925.4 kBtu
Electricity Use
3,981,404.8 kBtu
Est. Electric Bill: $167,000 for 2022**
#8 Lowest of Hotels 🏆
Higher than 52% of all buildings
1.0x median
3,796,376.7 kBtu
1/3 median Hotel
12,188,104.7 kBtu

Energy Mix

Total Energy Use: 8,314,564 kBTU

View Extra Technical Info
Source Energy Usage Intensity
214.3 kBtu / sqft
Higher than 88% of all buildings
1.6x median
132.2 kBtu / sqft
1.1x median Hotel
194.1 kBtu / sqft
Site Energy Usage Intensity
113.5 kBtu / sqft
Higher than 84% of all buildings
1.4x median
78.4 kBtu / sqft
1.1x median Hotel
106.2 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
2016 73,250 - 88 10.5771.6186.83,119,1613,702,353
2017 73,250 - 88 10.4758.7185.02,813,9164,488,636
2018 73,250 0.0 - ---
2019 - 0.0 - ---
2020 73,250 4.0 89 8.0587.3149.02,443,3193,877,321
2021 73,250 4.0 87 7.8568.9152.72,619,3443,667,408
2022 73,250 2.5 58 10.3754.6214.33,981,4044,333,158

* 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 (opens in a new tab) for the original statistics.

Data Source: Chicago Energy Benchmarking Data (opens in a new tab)

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 (opens in a new tab)). This has already been done across the country with a variety of buildings, large and small, like the Hotel Marcel (opens in a new tab).

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: