Top 50 Buildings by Greenhouse Gas Emissions
These buildings are the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases in Chicago, both directly (like by burning natural gas on site for heating) and indirectly (by using electricity that is still produced with some fossil fuels).
Many of these buildings are very large, which is a big part of why they use so much energy and have such high emissions. Several of these buildings, however, are not that large, but are instead incredibly inefficient - they use a lot of energy to heat and cool relatively small buildings.
Curious to see buildings sorted by their emissions intensity instead? Check out the homepage!
Note: Data From Large Buildings in 2022
Note: This data only includes buildings whose emissions are reported
under the
Chicago Energy Benchmarking Ordinance
. According to the City “As of 2016,
this list includes all commercial, institutional, and residential buildings larger than
50,000 square feet.” This dataset is also then filtered to only buildings with
reported emissions > 1,000 metric tons CO2 equivalent.
The latest year of data is from 2022, but we update the site regularly when new data is available, and some buildings may have failed to report that year, and only have older data available.
Additionally, note that all tons specified are metric tons.
| Name / Address | Primary Property Type |
GHG Intensity (kg CO2 eq./sqft) |
Total GHG Emissions (tons CO2 eq.) |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Digital Lakeside
📷
🕰️
350 E Cermak
| Data Center | 142.1 kg/sqft  | 173,706 tons |
|
5841 S. Maryland Ave MC0985
🚨
(UChicago)
5841 S. Maryland Ave MC0985
| Hospital (General Medical & Surgical) | 25.0 kg/sqft #27 Highest
| 135,876 tons #1 Highest
|
|
Rush University Medical Center
🚨
1653 W Congress Pkwy
| Hospital (General Medical & Surgical) | 23.7 kg/sqft #36 Highest
| 92,454 tons #2 Highest
|
|
Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority
🚨
📷
301 E Cermak Rd
| Convention Center | 8.7 kg/sqft
Highest 20%
| 80,845 tons #3 Highest
|
|
Illinois Institute of Technology
🕰️
(Illinois Tech)
3300 South Federal Street
| College/University | 15.6 kg/sqft | 45,930 tons |
|
Cook County Department of Corrections Campus
🚨
2700 S California Ave
| Prison/Incarceration | 9.3 kg/sqft
Highest 17%
| 42,560 tons #4 Highest
|
|
NMH Feinberg Pavilion and Galter Pavilion
🚨
(Northwestern)
251 E Huron St
| Hospital (General Medical & Surgical) | 19.0 kg/sqft
Highest 3%
| 41,775 tons #5 Highest
|
|
Willis Tower
🚨
📷
233 S Wacker Dr
| Office | 9.2 kg/sqft
Highest 18%
| 41,767 tons #6 Highest
|
|
Stroger Hospital Campus
🚨
1901 W Harrison St
| Hospital (General Medical & Surgical) | 24.8 kg/sqft #29 Highest
| 39,603 tons #7 Highest
|
|
CCD
🕰️
5700 S Maryland Ave
| Hospital (General Medical & Surgical) | 30.2 kg/sqft | 36,452 tons |
|
Crown Hall
📷
🕰️
(Illinois Tech)
3360 S State Street
| College/University | 555.1 kg/sqft | 30,139 tons |
|
300 E Randolph
🕰️
300 E Randolph
| Office | 11.1 kg/sqft | 24,655 tons |
|
600 W Chicago
🚨
600 W Chicago
| Office | 10.7 kg/sqft
Highest 11%
| 24,266 tons #8 Highest
|
|
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago
🚨
225 E Chicago Ave
| Hospital (General Medical & Surgical) | 18.6 kg/sqft
Highest 3%
| 24,012 tons #9 Highest
|
|
Soldier Field
🕰️
1410 South Museum Campus Drive
| Stadium (Open) | 14.7 kg/sqft | 22,703 tons |
|
Water Tower Place
🚨
845 N Michigan Ave
| Mixed Use Property | 8.7 kg/sqft
Highest 20%
| 22,501 tons #10 Highest
|
|
900 North Michigan
🚨
900 North Michigan
| Mixed Use Property | 9.8 kg/sqft
Highest 14%
| 20,835 tons #11 Highest
|
|
Presence Resurrection Medical Center
🚨
7435 W Talcott Ave
| Hospital (General Medical & Surgical) | 18.7 kg/sqft
Highest 3%
| 20,493 tons #12 Highest
|
|
AMA Plaza
🚩
330 N Wabash Av
| Office | 10.6 kg/sqft
Highest 11%
| 19,786 tons #13 Highest
|
|
Aon Center
🚩
200 E Randolph St
| Office | 6.1 kg/sqft 
Lowest 45%
| 19,331 tons #14 Highest
|
|
Merchandise Mart
🚩
📷
222 Merchandise Mart Plz
| Office | 4.7 kg/sqft
Lowest 20%
| 19,236 tons #15 Highest
|
|
Gordon Center for Integrative Science (GCIS)
🚨
📷
(UChicago)
929 E 57th St
| Laboratory | 40.0 kg/sqft #10 Highest
| 19,164 tons #16 Highest
|
|
The Art Institute of Chicago
🚨
📷
111 S Michigan Ave
| Museum | 18.9 kg/sqft
Highest 3%
| 19,069 tons #17 Highest
|
|
Hyde Park West Apartments
🕰️
5325 S. Cottage Grove Ave
| Multifamily Housing | 126.0 kg/sqft | 18,454 tons |
|
IL0000FC-CHICAGO FEDERAL CTR
🕰️
219 S Dearborn
| Mixed Use Property | 5.8 kg/sqft | 18,420 tons |
|
10/30 South Wacker
🚩
10 S Wacker Dr
| Office | 6.4 kg/sqft
Lowest 49%
| 18,395 tons #18 Highest
|
|
CoreSite
🚨
📷
427 S LaSalle St
| Data Center | 114.8 kg/sqft #1 Highest
| 18,365 tons #19 Highest
|
|
Prudential Plaza
🚩
130 E Randolph St
| Office | 6.5 kg/sqft
Highest 49%
| 17,965 tons #20 Highest
|
|
United Center
🕰️
1901 W Madison St
| Indoor Arena | 18.6 kg/sqft | 17,884 tons |
|
Digital Printer's Row
🚨
📷
600 S Federal St
| Data Center | 93.5 kg/sqft #2 Highest
| 17,324 tons #21 Highest
|
|
NMH Prentice Womens Hospital
🚩
(Northwestern)
250 E Superior St
| Hospital (General Medical & Surgical) | 17.9 kg/sqft
Highest 3%
| 16,896 tons #22 Highest
|
|
Hilton Chicago
🚩
720 S Michigan Ave
| Hotel | 8.2 kg/sqft
Highest 24%
| 16,801 tons #23 Highest
|
|
540 W Madison Ave
🚩
540 W Madison
| Financial Office | 13.6 kg/sqft
Highest 6%
| 16,649 tons #24 Highest
|
|
Mercy Chicago - Hospital
🕰️
2525 S Michigan Ave
| Hospital (General Medical & Surgical) | 22.0 kg/sqft | 16,524 tons |
|
KCBD
🕰️
900 E. 57th St
| Laboratory | 42.9 kg/sqft | 16,175 tons |
|
Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago
🚩
401 N Wabash Ave
| Mixed Use Property | 7.5 kg/sqft
Highest 31%
| 15,949 tons #25 Highest
|
|
The John Hancock Center
🚩
📷
875 N Michigan Ave
| Mixed Use Property | 7.0 kg/sqft
Highest 39%
| 15,923 tons #26 Highest
|
|
Swedish Covenant Hospital Campus
🚩
5145 N California Ave
| Mixed Use Property | 19.8 kg/sqft
Highest 2%
| 15,863 tons #27 Highest
|
|
River North Point
🚩
350 N Orleans St
| Office | 8.3 kg/sqft
Highest 23%
| 15,659 tons #28 Highest
|
|
Hyatt Regency Chicago
🚩
151 E Wacker Dr
| Hotel | 7.7 kg/sqft
Highest 29%
| 15,625 tons #29 Highest
|
|
Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center
🚩
836 W Wellington Ave
| Hospital (General Medical & Surgical) | 12.3 kg/sqft
Highest 8%
| 15,611 tons #30 Highest
|
|
Northeastern Illinois University
🕰️
5500 N. Saint Louis Avenue
| College/University | 12.3 kg/sqft | 15,478 tons |
|
DCAM
🕰️
5758 S Maryland Ave
| Ambulatory Surgical Center | 28.6 kg/sqft | 15,393 tons |
|
Presence SMEMC St Mary Campus
🚩
2233 W Division St
| Hospital (General Medical & Surgical) | 21.8 kg/sqft
Highest 2%
| 15,172 tons #31 Highest
|
|
The Franklin
🚩
227 W Monroe
| Office | 5.0 kg/sqft
Lowest 25%
| 14,830 tons #32 Highest
|
|
71215A State St
🚩
101 N State St E
| Retail Store | 8.0 kg/sqft
Highest 26%
| 14,741 tons #33 Highest
|
|
Old Chicago Main Post Office
🚩
404 W HARRISON ST
| Office | 5.9 kg/sqft
Lowest 40%
| 14,703 tons #34 Highest
|
|
Michigan Plaza
🚩
205 N Michigan Ave
| Office | 6.5 kg/sqft
Highest 49%
| 14,620 tons #35 Highest
|
|
Navy Pier, Inc.
🚩
📷
600 E Grand Ave
| Mixed Use Property | 12.3 kg/sqft
Highest 8%
| 14,089 tons #36 Highest
|
|
Harris Bank Building
🕰️
115 S LaSalle St
| Office | 9.1 kg/sqft | 13,824 tons |
Data Source:
Chicago Energy Benchmarking Data