16-18A Forest Street
Multifamily Housing in Cambridge, MA
At a glance
16-18A Forest Street is a 64,440-square-foot multifamily housing building in Cambridge, Massachusetts, built in 1920. In its 2024 Cambridge benchmarking disclosure it reported an ENERGY STAR score of 88 out of 100 (grade A), a site energy-use intensity of 35.1 kBtu/ft² and 143 tCO₂e of greenhouse-gas emissions. That score is higher than 54% of the 155 scored multifamily housing buildings in Cambridge.
BEUDO · reporting year 2024
Benchmarking record
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| ENERGY STAR score | 88 (band A) |
| Site EUI | 35.1 kBtu/ft² |
| Source EUI | 68.9 kBtu/ft² |
| GHG emissions | 143 tCO₂e |
| GHG intensity | — |
| Electricity | 345,822 kWh |
| Natural gas | 10,842 therms |
| Water use | 1,069 kgal |
| Gross floor area | 64,440 sq ft |
| Source record | cambridge:B1545:2024 |
The disclosure history
Year over year
| Year | Score | Δ | Site EUI | GHG emissions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024latest | 88 | +2 | 35.1 kBtu/ft² | 143 tCO₂e |
| 2023 | 86 | -9 | 47.2 kBtu/ft² | 176 tCO₂e |
| 2022 | 95 | +4 | 43.5 kBtu/ft² | 202 tCO₂e |
| 2021 | 91 | +19 | 49.2 kBtu/ft² | 223 tCO₂e |
| 2020 | 72 | -8 | 64.1 kBtu/ft² | 295 tCO₂e |
| 2019 | 80 | -16 | 64.8 kBtu/ft² | 297 tCO₂e |
| 2018 | 96 | +95 | 49.0 kBtu/ft² | 222 tCO₂e |
| 2017 | 1 | -2 | 162.8 kBtu/ft² | 663 tCO₂e |
| 2016 | 3 | 142.5 kBtu/ft² | 483 tCO₂e | |
| 2015 | — | — | 0 tCO₂e |
Compliance context
BEUDO
Cambridge's 2023 BEUDO amendments require non-residential buildings of 100,000+ sq ft to reach net-zero emissions by 2035 (reductions starting 2026) and those of 25,000–100,000 sq ft by 2050 (starting 2030).
Ownership
5527-16-19A FOREST STREET CAMBRIDGE LLC,
Own or manage this building? Claim it to correct the record and get compliance alerts.
Location
- Address
- 16-18A Forest Street
- City
- Cambridge
- State
- Massachusetts
- Coordinates
- 42.38500, -71.11690
Within ~1 km
Nearby benchmarked buildings
- 52 Oxford Stscore —
College/University · 551,387 sq ft
- 1545 Massachusetts Avenuescore —
College/University · 281,097 sq ft
- 1586 Massachusetts Avenuescore —
College/University · 262,602 sq ft
- 12 Oxford Stscore —
Laboratory · 261,875 sq ft
- 46-56 Linnaean Streetscore —
Residence Hall/Dormitory · 251,014 sq ft
- 52 Oxford Steetscore —
Parking · 246,377 sq ft
See also: most efficient in Cambridge · biggest emitters
How does 16-18A Forest Street compare with other multifamily housing buildings in Cambridge?
The latest disclosures cover 187 multifamily housing buildings in Cambridge, out of 902 buildings citywide. 16-18A Forest Street's ENERGY STAR score of 88 compares with an average of 75 across the 155 that report a score; it scores higher than 54% of them and lower than 41%. Its site EUI of 35.1 kBtu/ft² is about 38% below the average of 56.9 kBtu/ft² — it uses less energy per square foot than the typical building in that group.
At 64,440 sq ft, it is about half of the average floor area of 132,415 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1920, 53 years earlier than the group's average year built (1973). 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 16-18A Forest Street's energy performance changed over time?
BuildingCensus holds 10 Cambridge disclosures for 16-18A Forest Street, covering report years 2015–2024. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 3 in 2016 to 88 in 2024 (+85 points); its best year on file was 2018, at 96. Site EUI moved from 142.5 kBtu/ft² (2016) to 35.1 kBtu/ft² (2024), a 75% decrease.
What does an ENERGY STAR score of 88 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 88 means the building performs better than about 88% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 88 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 Cambridge, 50% 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. 16-18A Forest Street's 35.1 kBtu/ft² across 64,440 sq ft works out to about 2.3 billion Btu (663 MWh-equivalent) in 2024. Its source EUI of 68.9 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 345,822 kWh of electricity, 10,842 therms of natural gas and 1,069 thousand gallons of water for the year.
Which law requires 16-18A Forest Street to report its energy use?
16-18A Forest Street reports under BEUDO, the legal basis of Cambridge's Building Energy Use Disclosure Ordinance (BEUDO), which publishes each covered building's annual benchmarking results. The record shown here is the report-year 2024 disclosure (source record cambridge:B1545:2024). Cambridge's 2023 BEUDO amendments require non-residential buildings of 100,000+ sq ft to reach net-zero emissions by 2035 (reductions starting 2026) and those of 25,000–100,000 sq ft by 2050 (starting 2030).
More multifamily housing buildings in Cambridge
- 1648-1654 Massachusetts Avenue· 63,287 sq ft · score 41 (D)
- 130 Mount Auburn Street· 63,208 sq ft · score 17 (D)
- 1-33 Henry Street, 2-26 Chestnut Street, 276-294 Sydney Street· 60,737 sq ft · score 100 (A)
- 8-10 Lancaster St· 59,900 sq ft · score 72 (B)
- 881 Mass. Avenue· 59,746 sq ft · score 93 (A)
- 931 Massachusetts Ave· 59,260 sq ft · score 64 (C)
- Multifamily Housing buildings in Cambridge· 187 benchmarked
- All Cambridge benchmarked buildings· BEUDO
- Most efficient large buildings in Cambridge
- Least efficient large buildings in Cambridge
- Biggest emitters in Cambridge
Frequently asked questions
What is 16-18A Forest Street's energy grade?
16-18A Forest Street scores 88 out of 100 on ENERGY STAR — band A, high performer (85–100) — in its 2024 Cambridge disclosure. Scores are national percentiles against similar buildings; 75+ qualifies for ENERGY STAR certification.
How much energy does 16-18A Forest Street use?
Its 2024 site energy-use intensity was 35.1 kBtu/ft² (68.9 kBtu/ft² source) across 64,440 sq ft, including 345,822 kWh of electricity and 10,842 therms of natural gas.
What are 16-18A Forest Street's carbon emissions?
16-18A Forest Street reported 143 tCO₂e of greenhouse-gas emissions for 2024.
Where is 16-18A Forest Street?
16-18A Forest Street is in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Its coordinates are 42.38500, -71.11690 (latitude, longitude), as published in the Building Energy Use Disclosure Ordinance (BEUDO) file.
How big is 16-18A Forest Street and when was it built?
16-18A Forest Street has 64,440 sq ft of gross floor area, as reported in its 2024 disclosure. The disclosure lists 1920 as its year built. It is classed as multifamily housing.
Is 16-18A Forest Street covered by BEUDO?
Yes — it appears in the 2024 Building Energy Use Disclosure Ordinance (BEUDO) disclosure, which lists the buildings reporting under BEUDO.
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About this data
Source: Building Energy Use Disclosure Ordinance (BEUDO) (BEUDO), as published October 2, 2026. See the methodology for how records are matched, cleaned and scored.
Cite as: BuildingCensus, “16-18A Forest Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts — 2024 benchmarking disclosure”, https://buildingcensus.com/buildings/cambridge/16-18a-forest-street-fffbd287 (data as of October 2, 2026).