959 Dorchester Avenue

How does 959 Dorchester Avenue 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. 959 Dorchester Avenue's ENERGY STAR score of 100 compares with an average of 71 across the 1,225 that report a score; it scores higher than 93% of them. Its site EUI of 28.0 kBtu/ft² is about 59% below the average of 67.7 kBtu/ft² — it uses less energy per square foot than the typical building in that group.

At 43,800 sq ft, it is about 25% below 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 959 Dorchester Avenue's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 2 Boston disclosures for 959 Dorchester Avenue, covering report years 2023–2024. Only one of those years carries energy figures.

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 100 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: 100 is the top of the scale. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 100 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. 959 Dorchester Avenue's 28.0 kBtu/ft² across 43,800 sq ft works out to about 1.2 billion Btu (359 MWh-equivalent) in 2024. The disclosure also reports 193,309 kWh of electricity and 5,656 therms of natural gas for the year.

Which law requires 959 Dorchester Avenue to report its energy use?

959 Dorchester Avenue 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:108080:2024). 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.