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 only includes large Chicago buildings from 2020
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.
This data is also from 2020, but when new benchmark data is available, we'll update the site.
| Property Name / address | Primary Property Type |
Greenhouse Gas Intensity (kg CO2/sqft) |
Total Greenhouse Emissions (metric tons CO2 eq.) |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Digital Lakeside
🚨
📷
350 E Cermak
| Data Center | 142.1  #2 Highest
| 173,706 #1 Highest
|
|
5841 S. Maryland Ave MC0985
🚨
(UChicago)
5841 S. Maryland Ave MC0985
| Hospital (General Medical & Surgical) | 26.9
Highest 4%
| 146,536 #2 Highest
|
|
Rush University Medical Center
🚨
1653 W Congress Pkwy
| Hospital (General Medical & Surgical) | 26.4
Highest 4%
| 102,661 #3 Highest
|
|
Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority
🚨
📷
301 Cermak Rd
| Convention Center | 8.3
Highest 42%
| 76,935 #4 Highest
|
|
Cook County Department of Corrections Campus
🚨
2700 S California Ave
| Prison/Incarceration | 11.1
Highest 24%
| 50,507 #5 Highest
|
|
NMH Feinberg Pavilion and Galter Pavilion
🚨
251 E Huron St
| Hospital (General Medical & Surgical) | 20.6
Highest 8%
| 45,388 #6 Highest
|
|
Stroger Hospital Campus
🚨
1901 W Harrison St
| Hospital (General Medical & Surgical) | 28.3 #42 Highest
| 45,230 #7 Highest
|
|
Willis Tower
🚨
📷
233 S Wacker Dr
| Office | 8.8
Highest 37%
| 43,675 #8 Highest
|
|
600 W Chicago
🚨
600 W Chicago
| Office | 13.8
Highest 15%
| 29,599 #9 Highest
|
|
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago
🚨
225 E Chicago Ave
| Hospital (General Medical & Surgical) | 20.9
Highest 8%
| 26,971 #10 Highest
|
|
300 E Randolph
🚨
300 E Randolph
| Office | 11.1
Highest 24%
| 24,655 #11 Highest
|
|
Keating Hall
🚨
📷
(Illinois Tech)
3040 S Wabash Avenue
| College/University | 461.6 #1 Highest
| 24,538 #12 Highest
|
|
Presence Resurrection Medical Center
🚨
7435 W Talcott Ave
| Hospital (General Medical & Surgical) | 20.9
Highest 8%
| 22,882 #13 Highest
|
|
The John Hancock Center
🚩
📷
875 N Michigan Ave
| Mixed Use Property | 9.7
Highest 31%
| 22,228 #14 Highest
|
|
Water Tower Place
🚩
845 N Michigan Ave
| Mixed Use Property | 8.6
Highest 39%
| 22,117 #15 Highest
|
|
The Franklin
🚩
227 W Monroe
| Office | 7.4 
Lowest 45%
| 22,015 #16 Highest
|
|
Merchandise Mart
🚩
📷
222 Merchandise Mart Plz
| Office | 5.1
Lowest 9%
| 20,933 #17 Highest
|
|
Prudential Plaza
🚩
130 E Randolph St
| Office | 7.6
Lowest 48%
| 20,898 #18 Highest
|
|
The Art Institute of Chicago
🚨
📷
111 S Michigan Ave
| Museum | 20.7
Highest 8%
| 20,891 #19 Highest
|
|
NMH Prentice Womens Hospital
🚩
250 E Superior St
| Hospital (General Medical & Surgical) | 22.0
Highest 7%
| 20,820 #20 Highest
|
|
900 North Michigan
🚩
900 North Michigan
| Mixed Use Property | 9.7
Highest 31%
| 20,806 #21 Highest
|
|
Aon Center
🚩
200 E Randolph St
| Office | 6.5
Lowest 29%
| 20,741 #22 Highest
|
|
10/30 South Wacker
🚩
10 S Wacker Dr
| Office | 7.1
Lowest 40%
| 20,376 #23 Highest
|
|
352 360 W WELLINGTON AVE
🚨
📷
352 360 W WELLINGTON AVE
| Multifamily Housing | 136.5 #3 Highest
| 19,870 #24 Highest
|
|
River North Point
🚩
350 N Orleans St
| Office | 10.2
Highest 28%
| 19,305 #25 Highest
|
|
Ford City Mall
🚩
7601 S Cicero Ave
| Enclosed Mall | 22.2
Highest 7%
| 19,161 #26 Highest
|
|
Digital Printer's Row
🚨
📷
600 S Federal St
| Data Center | 105.8 #5 Highest
| 18,979 #27 Highest
|
|
Swedish Covenant Hospital Campus
🚩
5145 N California Ave
| Mixed Use Property | 23.4
Highest 6%
| 18,719 #28 Highest
|
|
IL0000FC - Chicago Federal Ctr
🚩
219 S Dearborn
| Mixed Use Property | 5.8
Lowest 16%
| 18,413 #29 Highest
|
|
AMA Plaza
🚩
330 N Wabash Av
| Office | 9.8
Highest 30%
| 18,347 #30 Highest
|
|
CoreSite
🚨
📷
427 S LaSalle St
| Data Center | 114.3 #4 Highest
| 18,282 #31 Highest
|
|
Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center
🚩
836 W Wellington Ave
| Hospital (General Medical & Surgical) | 13.5
Highest 16%
| 17,649 #32 Highest
|
|
Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago
🚩
401 N Wabash Ave
| Mixed Use Property | 8.3
Highest 42%
| 17,566 #33 Highest
|
|
Gordon Center for Integrative Science (GCIS)
🚩
📷
(UChicago)
929 E 57th St
| Laboratory | 35.9 #16 Highest
| 17,199 #34 Highest
|
|
540 W Madison Ave
🚩
540 W Madison
| Financial Office | 13.4
Highest 16%
| 16,431 #35 Highest
|
|
Michigan Plaza
🚩
205 N Michigan Ave
| Office | 7.7
Lowest 50%
| 15,937 #36 Highest
|
|
55 E Monroe
🚩
55 E Monroe St
| Office | 9.3
Highest 34%
| 15,558 #37 Highest
|
|
River East Center Campus
🚩
322 E Illinois St
| Mixed Use Property | 10.2
Highest 28%
| 15,479 #38 Highest
|
|
Presence SMEMC St Mary Campus
🚩
2233 W Division St
| Hospital (General Medical & Surgical) | 22.1
Highest 7%
| 15,415 #39 Highest
|
|
500 W Monroe
🚩
500 W Monroe
| Office | 13.3
Highest 16%
| 15,317 #40 Highest
|
|
S1-Sinai
🚩
1525 S CALIFORNIA AVE
| Hospital (General Medical & Surgical) | 15.0
Highest 14%
| 15,145 #41 Highest
|
|
Hyatt Center
🚩
71 S Wacker Dr
| Office | 8.6
Highest 39%
| 14,570 #42 Highest
|
|
Citigroup Center
🚩
500 W Madison St
| Office | 7.8
Highest 49%
| 14,397 #43 Highest
|
|
James R Thompson Center
🚩
100 W Randolph St
| Office | 12.0
Highest 20%
| 14,265 #44 Highest
|
|
Harris Bank Building
🚩
115 S LaSalle St
| Office | 9.3
Highest 34%
| 14,249 #45 Highest
|
|
Shirley Ryan AbilityLab
🚩
355 E ERIE ST
| Hospital (General Medical & Surgical) | 16.2
Highest 12%
| 14,188 #46 Highest
|
|
Presidential Towers
🚩
555 W Madison St
| Multifamily Housing | 5.0
Lowest 8%
| 13,672 #47 Highest
|
|
Hilton Chicago
🚩
720 S Michigan Ave
| Hotel | 6.6
Lowest 31%
| 13,461 #48 Highest
|
|
Hyatt Regency Chicago
🚩
151 E Wacker Dr
| Hotel | 6.5
Lowest 29%
| 13,219 #49 Highest
|
|
William Eckhardt Research Center
🚩
📷
(UChicago)
5640 S ELLIS AVE
| Laboratory | 46.2 #11 Highest
| 13,137 #50 Highest
|
Data Source:
Chicago Energy Benchmarking Data