48-50 Congress St

How does 48-50 Congress St compare with other office buildings in Boston?

The latest disclosures cover 467 office buildings in Boston, out of 6,305 buildings citywide. 48-50 Congress St's ENERGY STAR score of 90 compares with an average of 71 across the 356 that report a score; it scores higher than 82% of them and lower than 17%. Its site EUI of 47.9 kBtu/ft² is about 22% below the average of 61.7 kBtu/ft² — it uses less energy per square foot than the typical building in that group.

At 179,873 sq ft, it is roughly in line with the average floor area of 191,803 sq ft for those buildings. Across all 24 jurisdictions BuildingCensus covers, the 15,264 office buildings average an ENERGY STAR score of 73 and a site EUI of 59.3 kBtu/ft².

How has 48-50 Congress St's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 3 Boston disclosures for 48-50 Congress St, covering report years 2022–2024. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 84 in 2022 to 90 in 2024 (+6 points); its best year on file was 2023, at 92. Site EUI moved from 62.2 kBtu/ft² (2022) to 47.9 kBtu/ft² (2024), a 23% decrease. Reported emissions went from 844 tCO₂e to 575 tCO₂e over the same span (down 32%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 90 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 90 means the building performs better than about 90% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 90 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. 48-50 Congress St's 47.9 kBtu/ft² across 179,873 sq ft works out to about 8.6 billion Btu (2,525 MWh-equivalent) in 2024. The disclosure also reports 1,032,443 kWh of electricity and 1,882 therms of natural gas for the year.

Which law requires 48-50 Congress St to report its energy use?

48-50 Congress St 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:103352:2024). 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.