Von Steuben Metro Science Center -CPS

5039 N Kimball Ave, Chicago IL, 60625 Find on Google Maps

Chicago Building ID: 250055

Building Info

Square Footage: 248,453 sqft
Higher than 69% of all buildings
1.8x median
139,707 sqft
2.4x median K-12 School
101,627 sqft
Built: 1930
Primary Property Type: K-12 School
Community Area: North Park
Chicago Energy Rating: 4.0 / 4
Energy Star Score: 83 / 100
Owner

Emissions & Energy Information for 2022

Greenhouse Gas Intensity: 4.3 kg CO₂e / sqft
Lower than 86% of all buildings
0.7x median
6.4 kg CO₂e / sqft
0.7x median K-12 School
6.4 kg CO₂e / sqft
Total Greenhouse Gas Emissions: 1,070.4 tons CO₂e
Higher than 57% of all buildings
1.2x median
885.8 tons CO₂e
1.7x median K-12 School
643.4 tons CO₂e

Years Reported 8/9 B

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: 10,890,330 kBtu
Est. Gas Bill: $130,000 for 2022**
Higher than 73% of all buildings
1.9x median
5,818,399.6 kBtu
2.0x median K-12 School
5,465,480 kBtu
Electricity Use: 3,734,795.8 kBtu
Est. Electric Bill: $157,000 for 2022**
Lower than 50% of all buildings
1.0x median
3,796,376.7 kBtu
1.4x median K-12 School
2,728,607.1 kBtu

Energy Mix

Total Energy Use: 14,625,126 kBTU

View Extra Technical Info

Source Energy Usage Intensity: 88.1 kBtu / sqft
Lower than 87% of all buildings
0.7x median
132.2 kBtu / sqft
0.7x median K-12 School
132.5 kBtu / sqft
Site Energy Usage Intensity: 58.9 kBtu / sqft
Lower than 76% of all buildings
0.8x median
78.4 kBtu / sqft
0.7x median K-12 School
81.9 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
2014	262,000	-	90	5.76	1,510	103.0	3,596,183	14,820,434
2015	248,453	-	98	4.5	1,116	77.0	3,520,836	7,698,691
2016	248,453	-	97	4.4	1,093.9	79.4	3,741,667	7,609,707
2017	248,453	-	97	4.4	1,103.2	79.9	3,796,727	7,553,755
2018	248,453	4.0	87	4.6	1,135.4	83.5	3,472,030	10,501,825
2019	-	0.0	-		-		-	-
2020	248,453	4.0	95	3.3	824.6	62.7	2,514,266	8,137,870
2021	248,453	4.0	90	3.7	923.1	73.1	3,242,281	8,659,860
2022	248,453	4.0	83	4.3	1,070.4	88.1	3,734,795	10,890,330

* 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: