Chicago is pursuing energy efficiency retrofits for the city’s aging housing stock. In partnership with private, public, and nonprofit stakeholders, Chicago aims to cut energy consumption by 20% over five years.
Chicago is the third-largest city in the USA, and in an attempt to cut emissions and utility bills across multiple sectors, Mayor Rahm Emanuel introduced Retrofit Chicago, targeting residential, commercial, and municipal buildings. By bringing together expertise from multiple stakeholders in one place, the city can provide incentives and accessible energy efficiency upgrades for all. Retrofit Chicago feeds into the larger, city-wide Chicago Climate Action Plan calling for CO2 reductions of 80% by 2050.
Around two-thirds of Chicago citizens live in a building 50 years of age or older – a third higher than the USA average – resulting in many power-hungry and leaky buildings. In the residential sphere, the city offers free energy assessments and expert recommendations as well as free installation of energy-saving products such as LED lights and certified water-saving showerheads.
504,000 tons of CO2 reductions have resulted from Retrofit Chicago actions.
The city has also embarked on “one of the largest municipal lighting modernization programs in the country,” replacing 85% of the inefficient high-pressure sodium public street lights with power-saving LEDs. So far, changes via this simple scheme have resulted in 173,000 tons of CO2 reductions.
The challenge
Buildings are responsible for an estimated 70% of Chicago’s total emissions. Driving this down is key to unlocking easy carbon savings for the city.
Co-benefits
Economic More than $200 million has been invested as part of the scheme, boosting the local economy and creating jobs in construction and project management. Additionally, utility savings from the projects generated an estimated $45 million for residents, businesses, and city government.
Social Several Retrofit Chicago projects have targeted Chicago’s low-income, working-class neighborhoods. Investments in these properties improve the overall building stock for Chicago’s low- and middle-income earners and provide utility savings for homes.
Health Retrofitting homes with improved insulation not only improves energy efficiency but also means that residents can afford to heat their homes during cold winter nights, preventing temperature-related illness.
About Chicago
Chicago is the third-most populous city in the United States. With over 2.7 million residents, it is also the most populous city in both the state of Illinois and the Midwestern United States. The Chicago metropolitan area, often referred to as Chicagoland, has nearly 10 million people and is the third-largest in the U.S. The city is an international hub for finance, commerce, industry, technology, telecommunications, transportation and the O’Hare International Airport is the second-busiest airport in the world when measured by aircraft traffic.
