Chicago, Illinois

City Overview

Chicago is the largest city in the Midwest and the third most populated city in the United States, with a population of 2.6 million people and a surrounding metro area of close to 9 million people. Over the last hundred years, Chicago has propelled multiple prominent social justice, civil rights and labor movements, and is home to the late “mother of the environmental justice movement,” Hazel M. Johnson. 

Chicago completed its Climate Action Plan in 2022, committing the city to a 62% reduction in GHG emissions by 2040 with a strong emphasis on environmental justice and community benefits. Buildings in Chicago account for nearly 70% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, making it a critical component of addressing the City’s emissions. 

Chicago Programs, Policies, and Strategies

In 2021, Chicago dedicated $188 million through a general obligation bond that funds climate and other recovery projects. Of this amount, $41 million is allocated to building electrification and decarbonization programs such as the Green Homes Chicago initiative, which provides free home energy upgrades and energy efficiency retrofits to income-eligible homeowners. In 2022, the Chicago Building Decarbonization Working Group released a Recommendations Report, which accompanies the City’s Climate Action Plan and details 26 building-sector strategies to drive down emissions while advancing equitable outcomes across the city. 

BEI began work with Chicago in 2024 through Community Climate Shift, which is a groundbreaking initiative to change the way local governments and community organizations collaborate to advance building decarbonization policies and programs. Through the initiative, the City and its partners are exploring strategies to develop an equitable building performance standard (BPS) policy and a community-driven retrofit program that will simplify the process of implementing upgrades in residential buildings. To support planning efforts, BEI is also exploring developing an affordable housing impact analysis, in partnership with Elevate, to understand how a BPS will affect housing affordability and what protections can be put in place within or alongside the policy. 

BEI will continue to expand our work in Chicago in the coming years, supporting the City-led commitment to improve the health and livelihoods of its residents, especially those from frontline and historically marginalized communities. Continued progress in Chicago will help pave the path for other Midwestern cities to develop regionally-appropriate strategies and scale up investments in healthy, climate resilient buildings and homes.