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Robert J Stein Institute of Forensic Medicine 

2121 W Harrison St, Chicago IL, 60612 Find on Google Maps (opens in a new tab)

Chicago Building ID: 251928

Building Info

Square Footage
79,368 sqft
Lower than 76% of all buildings
0.6x median
139,707 sqft
1.0x median Other - Public Services
80,000 sqft
Built
1982
Primary Property Type
Other - Public Services
Community Area
Near West Side
Owner
Not Tagged

Emissions & Energy Information for 2022

Greenhouse Gas Intensity
17.2 kg CO2e / sqft
#1 Highest of Other - Public Services 🚨
Higher than 96% of all buildings
2.7x median
6.4 kg CO2e / sqft
2.3x median Other - Public Services
7.5 kg CO2e / sqft
Total Greenhouse Gas Emissions
1,363.8 metric tons CO2 eq.
#1 Highest of Other - Public Services 🚨
Higher than 65% of all buildings
1.5x median
885.8 metric tons CO2 eq.
2.3x median Other - Public Services
603.2 metric tons CO2 eq.
Source Energy Usage Intensity
355.4 kBtu / sqft
#1 Highest of Other - Public Services 🚨
Higher than 96% of all buildings
2.7x median
132.2 kBtu / sqft
2.2x median Other - Public Services
158.7 kBtu / sqft
Site Energy Usage Intensity
205.3 kBtu / sqft
#1 Highest of Other - Public Services 🚨
Higher than 97% of all buildings
2.6x median
78.4 kBtu / sqft
3.0x median Other - Public Services
68.8 kBtu / sqft
Natural Gas Use
9,958,243.7 kBtu
Est. Gas Bill: $119,000 for 2022**
#1 Highest of Other - Public Services 🚨
Higher than 70% of all buildings
1.7x median
5,818,399.6 kBtu
6x median Other - Public Services
1,810,470.9 kBtu
Electricity Use
6,338,707.9 kBtu
Est. Electric Bill: $266,000 for 2022**
#1 Highest of Other - Public Services 🚨
Higher than 66% of all buildings
1.7x median
3,796,376.7 kBtu
1.6x median Other - Public Services
3,952,965.6 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
2015 79,368 - 24.01,902401.06,946,9289,532,870
2016 79,368 - 23.31,850.6414.67,293,2599,532,365
2017 79,368 - 22.31,767.8396.76,720,5289,887,550
2018 79,368 1.0 21.91,741392.36,718,85911,734,050
2019 79,368 1.0 22.01,742.6393.86,537,00912,332,797
2020 79,368 1.0 21.31,691.6396.66,877,16511,640,249
2021 79,368 1.0 20.31,608.1398.37,406,10010,360,380
2022 79,368 2.0 17.21,363.8355.46,338,7079,958,243
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 (opens in a new tab) for the original statistics.

Data Source: Chicago Energy Benchmarking Data (opens in a new tab)

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 (opens in a new tab)). This has already been done across the country with a variety of buildings, large and small, like the Hotel Marcel (opens in a new tab).

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: