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Crerar Library 
🏆

5730 S Ellis Ave, Chicago IL, 60637 Find on Google Maps (opens in a new tab)

Chicago Building ID: 252038

Building Info

Square Footage
168,656 sqft
#3 Largest of Librarys
Lower than 77% of others
0.6x the median, 1.0x the median Library
Median benchmarked building*:
296,415 sqft
Median benchmarked Library*:
168,656 sqft
Built
1984
Primary Property Type
Library
Community Area
Hyde Park
Owner
University of Chicago
View All Tagged UChicago Buildings

Note: Owner manually tagged. Logo used under fair use.

Emissions & Energy Information

Greenhouse Gas Intensity
9.1 kg CO2e / sqft
#5 Highest of Librarys 🚨
Higher than 65% of others
1.2x the median, 0.7x the median Library
Median benchmarked building*:
7.7 kg CO2e / sqft
Median benchmarked Library*:
12.2 kg CO2e / sqft
Total Greenhouse Gas Emissions
1,527.2 metric tons CO2 eq.
#3 Highest of Librarys 🚨
Lower than 69% of others
0.7x the median, 1.0x the median Library
Median benchmarked building*:
2,063.4 metric tons CO2 eq.
Median benchmarked Library*:
1,527.2 metric tons CO2 eq.
Source Energy Usage Intensity
161.7 kBtu / sqft
#5 Highest of Librarys 🚨
Higher than 62% of others
1.1x the median, 0.7x the median Library
Median benchmarked building*:
143.1 kBtu / sqft
Median benchmarked Library*:
218.3 kBtu / sqft
Site Energy Usage Intensity
101.4 kBtu / sqft
#4 Highest of Librarys 🚨
Higher than 70% of others
1.2x the median, 0.9x the median Library
Median benchmarked building*:
81.9 kBtu / sqft
Median benchmarked Library*:
115.5 kBtu / sqft
Natural Gas Use
10,380 kBtu
#3 Highest of Librarys 🚨
#6 Lowest in Chicago* 🏆
1/1192 the median, 1/4 the median Library
Median benchmarked building*:
12,367,856.3 kBtu
Median benchmarked Library*:
40,580 kBtu
Electricity Use
5,231,080.4 kBtu
#4 Highest of Librarys 🚨
Lower than 79% of others
0.6x the median, 0.9x the median Library
Median benchmarked building*:
8,755,592 kBtu
Median benchmarked Library*:
5,940,568.6 kBtu
District Steam Use
6,201,409.5 kBtu
1/2 the median, the median Library
Median benchmarked building*:
12,791,107.2 kBtu
District Chilled Water Use
5,662,800.1 kBtu
0.6x the median, the median Library
Median benchmarked building*:
9,674,280.5 kBtu

* Important Note: Rankings and medians are among included buildings, which are those who reported under the Chicago Energy Benchmarking Ordinance for the year 2020 with emissions greater than 1,000 metric tons.

Data Source: Chicago Energy Benchmarking Data Covered Buildings (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: