1615 Commonwealth Ave

How does 1615 Commonwealth Ave compare with other multifamily housing buildings in Boston?

The latest disclosures cover 2,174 multifamily housing buildings in Boston, out of 6,305 buildings citywide. 1615 Commonwealth Ave's ENERGY STAR score of 95 compares with an average of 71 across the 1,225 that report a score; it scores higher than 78% of them and lower than 15%. Its site EUI of 58.7 kBtu/ft² is about 13% below the average of 67.7 kBtu/ft² — it uses less energy per square foot than the typical building in that group.

At 30,054 sq ft, it is about half of the average floor area of 58,087 sq ft for those buildings. Across all 24 jurisdictions BuildingCensus covers, the 59,945 multifamily housing buildings average an ENERGY STAR score of 70 and a site EUI of 59.0 kBtu/ft².

How has 1615 Commonwealth Ave's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 3 Boston disclosures for 1615 Commonwealth Ave, covering report years 2022–2024. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 88 in 2023 to 95 in 2024 (+7 points). Site EUI moved from 76.2 kBtu/ft² (2023) to 58.7 kBtu/ft² (2024), a 23% decrease. Reported emissions went from 136 tCO₂e to 124 tCO₂e over the same span (down 9%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 95 mean?

ENERGY STAR scores run from 1 to 100 and are computed by the EPA's Portfolio Manager as a percentile against similar buildings nationwide, adjusted for climate, size and use: a score of 95 means the building performs better than about 95% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 95 falls in band A — high performer (85–100). Scores of 75 or higher meet the threshold for ENERGY STAR certification; certification itself is a separate, verified application that the disclosure does not record. In Boston, 52% of scored buildings are at 75 or above.

Site energy-use intensity (EUI) is the energy a building uses on site in a year divided by its floor area, in thousand Btu per square foot — lower is more efficient. 1615 Commonwealth Ave's 58.7 kBtu/ft² across 30,054 sq ft works out to about 1.8 billion Btu (517 MWh-equivalent) in 2024. The disclosure also reports 87,463 kWh of electricity and 649 therms of natural gas for the year.

Which law requires 1615 Commonwealth Ave to report its energy use?

1615 Commonwealth Ave reports under BERDO 2.0, the legal basis of Boston's Building Emissions Reduction and Disclosure Ordinance, which publishes each covered building's annual benchmarking results. The record shown here is the report-year 2024 disclosure (source record boston:105808:2024). BERDO 2.0 sets emissions standards for buildings of 20,000+ sq ft or 15+ units, starting in 2025 or 2030 depending on building size, with an alternative-compliance payment of $234 per metric ton of CO₂e over the limit.