Symphony Center
Chicago Building ID: 160197
Building Info
- Square Footage
- 294,211 sqft#2 Largest of Performing Arts BuildingsHigher than 74% of all buildings2.1x median139,707 sqft1.6x median Performing Arts187,000 sqft
- Built
- 1997
- Primary Property Type
- Performing Arts
- Community Area
- Loop
-
Chicago Energy Rating
- 1.0 / 4
- Owner
Emissions & Energy Information for 2022
- Greenhouse Gas Intensity
- 10.8 kg CO2e / sqft#2 Highest of Performing Arts Buildings 🚨Higher than 89% of all buildings1.7x median6.4 kg CO2e / sqft1.5x median Performing Arts7.3 kg CO2e / sqft
- Total Greenhouse Gas Emissions
- 3,174.3 tons CO2e#1 Highest of Performing Arts Buildings 🚨Higher than 87% of all buildings3.6x median885.8 tons CO2e2.5x median Performing Arts1,287.5 tons CO2e
Years Reported 8/8 A
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
Energy Breakdown
- Natural Gas Use
- 17,733,589.4 kBtuEst. Gas Bill: $211,000 for 2022**#1 Highest of Performing Arts Buildings 🚨Higher than 85% of all buildings3.0x median5,818,399.6 kBtu6x median Performing Arts2,829,257.1 kBtu
- Electricity Use
- 12,066,012.2 kBtuEst. Electric Bill: $506,000 for 2022**#1 Highest of Performing Arts Buildings 🚨Higher than 83% of all buildings3.2x median3,796,376.7 kBtu1.9x median Performing Arts6,356,461.7 kBtu
- District Chilled Water Use
- 12,202,979.6 kBtu
Most buildings don't use district chilling, so we don't currently have comparison data.
Energy Mix
Total Energy Use: 42,002,581 kBTU
View Extra Technical Info
- Source Energy Usage Intensity
- 215.9 kBtu / sqft#2 Highest of Performing Arts Buildings 🚨Higher than 88% of all buildings1.6x median132.2 kBtu / sqft1.4x median Performing Arts155.8 kBtu / sqft
- Site Energy Usage Intensity
- 142.8 kBtu / sqft#1 Highest of Performing Arts Buildings 🚨Higher than 91% of all buildings1.8x median78.4 kBtu / sqft1.9x median Performing Arts76 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 294,211 | - | 16.2 | 4,761 | 272.8 | 16,151,361 | 18,337,902 |
| 2016 | 294,211 | - | 14.8 | 4,367.8 | 265.4 | 15,459,673 | 17,416,658 |
| 2017 | 294,211 | - | 15.3 | 4,510.2 | 273.8 | 15,774,751 | 18,566,291 |
| 2018 | 294,211 | 1.0 | 14.2 | 4,175.8 | 249.7 | 15,511,265 | 18,788,624 |
| 2019 | 294,211 | 2.0 | 13.2 | 3,890.5 | 234.7 | 13,377,653 | 21,446,785 |
| 2020 | 294,211 | 3.0 | 8.8 | 2,593.2 | 162.1 | 9,351,104 | 14,470,909 |
| 2021 | 294,211 | 3.0 | 8.7 | 2,556 | 166.8 | 9,672,590 | 12,802,838 |
| 2022 | 294,211 | 1.0 | 10.8 | 3,174.3 | 215.9 | 12,066,012 | 17,733,589 |
* 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: