Museum of Science and Industry

5700 S Lake Shore Dr, Chicago IL, 60637 Find on Google Maps

Chicago Building ID: 102460

Building Info

Square Footage: 1,211,750 sqft
#1 Largest of Museums
Higher than 94% of others
4.1x the median, 3.8x the median Museum
Median benchmarked building*:
296,415 sqft
Median benchmarked Museum*:
316,080 sqft
Built: 1893
Primary Property Type: Museum
Community Area: Hyde Park
Chicago Energy Rating: 4.0 / 4
Owner

Emissions & Energy Information

Greenhouse Gas Intensity: 4.4 kg CO₂e / sqft
#5 Highest of Museums 🚨
Lower than 96% of others
0.6x the median, 0.6x the median Museum
Median benchmarked building*:
7.7 kg CO₂e / sqft
Median benchmarked Museum*:
7.6 kg CO₂e / sqft
Total Greenhouse Gas Emissions: 5,371.7 metric tons CO₂ eq.
#2 Highest of Museums 🚨
Higher than 86% of others
2.6x the median, 2.4x the median Museum
Median benchmarked building*:
2,063.4 metric tons CO₂ eq.
Median benchmarked Museum*:
2,265 metric tons CO₂ eq.
Source Energy Usage Intensity: 81.1 kBtu / sqft
#5 Highest of Museums 🚨
Lower than 96% of others
0.6x the median, 0.6x the median Museum
Median benchmarked building*:
143.1 kBtu / sqft
Median benchmarked Museum*:
138.4 kBtu / sqft
Site Energy Usage Intensity: 38.8 kBtu / sqft
#5 Highest of Museums 🚨
Lower than 97% of others
1/2 the median, 0.6x the median Museum
Median benchmarked building*:
81.9 kBtu / sqft
Median benchmarked Museum*:
68.6 kBtu / sqft
Natural Gas Use: 19,061,558.7 kBtu
#2 Highest of Museums 🚨
Higher than 72% of others
1.5x the median, 1.3x the median Museum
Median benchmarked building*:
12,367,856.3 kBtu
Median benchmarked Museum*:
14,138,140.9 kBtu
Electricity Use: 27,931,407 kBtu
#2 Highest of Museums 🚨
Higher than 87% of others
3.2x the median, 2.5x the median Museum
Median benchmarked building*:
8,755,592 kBtu
Median benchmarked Museum*:
11,376,797.4 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

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: