Kersten Physics Teaching Center

5720 S Ellis Ave, Chicago IL, 60637 Find on Google Maps

Chicago Building ID: 252040

Building Info

Square Footage: 59,287 sqft
Lower than 91% of all buildings
1/2 median
139,707 sqft
1/2 median College/University
119,629 sqft
Built: 1985
Primary Property Type: College/University
Community Area: Hyde Park
Chicago Energy Rating: 2.0 / 4
Owner

Emissions & Energy Information for 2022

Greenhouse Gas Intensity: 9.9 kg CO₂e / sqft
Higher than 86% of all buildings
1.5x median
6.4 kg CO₂e / sqft
1.2x median College/University
8.4 kg CO₂e / sqft
Total Greenhouse Gas Emissions: 588 tons CO₂e
Lower than 67% of all buildings
0.7x median
885.8 tons CO₂e
0.6x median College/University
952.6 tons CO₂e

Years Reported 8/8 A

2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022

Energy Breakdown

Natural Gas Use: 0 kBtu
#5 Lowest of College/Universities 🏆
Lower than 97% of all buildings
Median Chicago Building
5,818,399.6 kBtu
Median College/University
4,847,201 kBtu
This Building Uses District Heating ❗
Although this building didn't burn any natural gas on site, it's connected to a district heating system, a centralized system for heating multiple buildings. District heating systems can be fully electric, but in Chicago most district heating systems are natural gas powered, meaning this building was most likely still heated with natural gas.
Electricity Use: 1,505,829.3 kBtu
Est. Electric Bill: $63,000 for 2022**
#5 Lowest of College/Universities 🏆
Lower than 81% of all buildings
1/3 median
3,796,376.7 kBtu
1/3 median College/University
4,940,922.2 kBtu
District Steam Use: 5,002,513.7 kBtu
Most buildings don't use district steam, so we don't currently have comparison data.
District Chilled Water Use: 1,090,872 kBtu
Most buildings don't use district chilling, so we don't currently have comparison data.

Energy Mix

Total Energy Use: 7,599,215 kBTU

View Extra Technical Info

Source Energy Usage Intensity: 189.4 kBtu / sqft
Higher than 82% of all buildings
1.4x median
132.2 kBtu / sqft
1.1x median College/University
173.4 kBtu / sqft
Site Energy Usage Intensity: 128.2 kBtu / sqft
Higher than 89% of all buildings
1.6x median
78.4 kBtu / sqft
1.4x median College/University
93.1 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	59,287	-	15.1	896	258.6	1,926,952	-	6,511,992
2016	59,287	-	10.5	623.9	186.1	1,673,644	-	3,602,274
2017	59,287	-	20.3	1,203.6	363.2	1,577,583	-	12,681,474
2018	59,287	3.0	12.5	741.8	220.9	1,423,728	-	6,909,678
2019	59,287	3.0	11.9	703.1	213.3	1,504,442	-	6,129,482
2020	59,287	4.0	8.4	500.4	151.7	1,249,754	-	3,912,141
2021	59,287	4.0	8.9	529.6	166.0	1,410,605	0	3,999,613
2022	59,287	2.0	9.9	588	189.4	1,505,829	0	5,002,513

* 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: