Harold Washington Library
Chicago Building ID: 157964
Building Info
- Square Footage
- 756,640 sqft#1 Largest of LibrarysHigher than 93% of all buildings5x median139,707 sqft6x median Library125,828 sqft
- Built
- 1991
- Primary Property Type
- Library
- Community Area
- Loop
-
Chicago Energy Rating
- 1.0 / 4
- Owner
View All Tagged Chicago Buildings
Note: Owner manually tagged. Logo used under fair use.
Emissions & Energy Information for 2022
- Greenhouse Gas Intensity
- 11.4 kg CO2e / sqftHigher than 91% of all buildings1.8x median6.4 kg CO2e / sqft0.9x median Library12.2 kg CO2e / sqft
- Total Greenhouse Gas Emissions
- 8,609.8 tons CO2e#1 Highest of Librarys 🚨Higher than 97% of all buildings10x median885.8 tons CO2e6x median Library1,385.2 tons CO2e
Years Reported 9/9 A
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
Note: Buildings are marked as reporting when we have greenhouse gas intensity values for them, but some buildings are missing GHG intensity values but have reported the underlying energy use data, but we're unsure why this is the case.
Energy Breakdown
- Natural Gas Use
- 0 kBtu#1 Lowest of Librarys 🏆Lower than 97% of all buildingsMedian Chicago Building5,818,399.6 kBtuMedian Library387,594.5 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
- 65,367,156.3 kBtuEst. Electric Bill: $2,740,000 for 2022**#1 Highest of Librarys 🚨Higher than 98% of all buildings17x median3,796,376.7 kBtu12x median Library5,415,153.3 kBtu
Energy Mix
Total Energy Use: 65,367,156 kBTU
View Extra Technical Info
- Source Energy Usage Intensity
- 241.9 kBtu / sqftHigher than 91% of all buildings1.8x median132.2 kBtu / sqft1.0x median Library245.3 kBtu / sqft
- Site Energy Usage Intensity
- 86.4 kBtu / sqft#2 Lowest of Librarys 🏆Higher than 61% of all buildings1.1x median78.4 kBtu / sqft0.7x median Library121.9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 756,640 | - | 19.23 | 14,549 | 301.0 | 72,412,262 | - |
| 2015 | 756,640 | - | 18.9 | 14,323 | 295.8 | 71,288,656 | - |
| 2016 | 756,640 | - | 15.8 | 11,955.6 | 269.2 | 64,863,143 | - |
| 2017 | 756,640 | - | 15.6 | 11,814.2 | 265.2 | 63,897,002 | - |
| 2018 | 756,640 | 2.0 | 14.0 | 10,580.8 | 235.4 | 63,600,294 | - |
| 2019 | 756,640 | 2.0 | 14.1 | 10,678.9 | 237.5 | 64,190,058 | - |
| 2020 | 756,640 | 1.0 | 12.2 | 9,208 | 218.3 | 58,999,212 | - |
| 2021 | 756,640 | 1.0 | 11.7 | 8,853.4 | 229.4 | 61,987,134 | 0 |
| 2022 | 756,640 | 1.0 | 11.4 | 8,609.8 | 241.9 | 65,367,156 | 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: