Chicago Energy Conservation Code 

The City Council approved an ordinance in 2016 to modernize the Chicago Energy Conservation Code, which is the portion of the building code that includes energy efficiency requirements for new construction or major renovations in buildings. Subsequent updates are mentioned below.

The changes clarified the energy code provisions in order to boost energy savings by 15% to 20% above the previous Chicago energy code requirements, which will lead to cost savings of up to $4-4.5 million/year citywide.

Building Energy Benchmarking

andBackground:  In September 2013, Chicago’s City Council adopted a building energy benchmarking ordinance to raise awareness of energy performance through information and transparency, with the goal of unlocking energy and cost savings opportunities for businesses and residents.
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2017  A four star rating system was passed in November, 2017.  Buildings will be required to post their rating so tenants, owners & renters can judge.

Chicago's Building Energy Use Benchmarking Ordinance calls on existing municipal, commercial, and residential buildings larger than 50,000 square feet to track whole-building energy use, report to the City annually, and verify data accuracy every three years.  The law covers those larger buildings, which account for 20% of total energy used by all buildings.   Improving energy efficiency is a key element of Sustainable Chicago’s 2015 action agenda to make Chicago more livable, competitive, and sustainable.

Reports from existing municipal & commercial buildings are due each Aug. 1st and can be accessed on the City's website which measures the energy efficiency accomplishments by building.
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