Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority
🚨

301 E Cermak Rd, Chicago IL, 60616 Find on Google Maps

Chicago Building ID: 101551

Attribution: Image Source . Cropped from original.

Building Info

Square Footage: 9,245,333 sqft
#1 Largest
66x median
139,707 sqft
2.0x median Convention Center
4,671,309 sqft
Built: 1971
Primary Property Type: Convention Center
Building Count: 10
Community Area: Armour Square
Chicago Energy Rating: 1.0 / 4
Owner

Emissions & Energy Information for 2022

Greenhouse Gas Intensity: 8.7 kg CO₂e / sqft
Higher than 80% of all buildings
1.4x median
6.4 kg CO₂e / sqft
0.9x median Convention Center
10.1 kg CO₂e / sqft
Total Greenhouse Gas Emissions: 80,844.9 metric tons CO₂ eq.
#3 Highest in Chicago* 🚨
91x median
885.8 metric tons CO₂ eq.
2.0x median Convention Center
40,979.2 metric tons CO₂ eq.
Source Energy Usage Intensity: 182.4 kBtu / sqft
Higher than 81% of all buildings
1.4x median
132.2 kBtu / sqft
0.9x median Convention Center
207.2 kBtu / sqft
Site Energy Usage Intensity: 93 kBtu / sqft
Higher than 69% of all buildings
1.2x median
78.4 kBtu / sqft
0.8x median Convention Center
120.3 kBtu / sqft
Natural Gas Use: 412,348,801.5 kBtu
Est. Gas Bill: $4,916,000 for 2022**
#1 Highest in Chicago* 🚨
71x median
5,818,399.6 kBtu
2.0x median Convention Center
209,900,942.8 kBtu
Electricity Use: 447,507,595 kBtu
Est. Electric Bill: $18,755,000 for 2022**
#3 Highest in Chicago* 🚨
118x median
3,796,376.7 kBtu
2.0x median Convention Center
225,987,254.2 kBtu

Historical Data

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
2014	9,245,333	-	12.53	115,833	204.0	485,542,954	344,178,866
2015	9,245,333	-	11.9	110,298	193.6	469,870,273	299,265,670
2016	9,245,333	-	11.6	106,838.4	202.0	485,705,024	325,947,797
2017	9,245,333	-	12.8	118,780.9	225.1	517,490,534	434,899,781
2018	9,245,333	1.0	12.8	118,724.1	223.5	573,458,252	439,070,812
2019	9,245,333	1.0	12.7	117,038.7	221.0	552,465,239	473,093,150
2020	9,245,333	3.0	8.3	76,934.8	152.9	374,952,024	346,725,881
2021	9,245,333	3.0	7.8	72,302.9	153.6	377,253,921	346,816,224
2022	9,245,333	1.0	8.7	80,844.9	182.4	447,507,595	412,348,801

Total GHG Emissions (metric tons CO₂e)

* 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:

Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority 🚨