1637 Massachusetts Avenue

How does 1637 Massachusetts Avenue compare with other multifamily housing buildings in Cambridge?

The latest disclosures cover 187 multifamily housing buildings in Cambridge, out of 902 buildings citywide. 1637 Massachusetts Avenue's ENERGY STAR score of 96 compares with an average of 75 across the 155 that report a score; it scores higher than 74% of them and lower than 23%. Its site EUI of 29.5 kBtu/ft² is about half of the average of 56.9 kBtu/ft² — it uses less energy per square foot than the typical building in that group.

At 10,761 sq ft, it is about 92% below the average floor area of 132,415 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 2007, 34 years later 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 1637 Massachusetts Avenue's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 10 Cambridge disclosures for 1637 Massachusetts Avenue, covering report years 2015–2024. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 94 in 2015 to 96 in 2024 (+2 points); its best year on file was 2020, at 100. Site EUI moved from 34.2 kBtu/ft² (2015) to 29.5 kBtu/ft² (2024), a 14% decrease. Reported emissions went from 25 tCO₂e to 21 tCO₂e over the same span (down 18%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 96 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 96 means the building performs better than about 96% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 96 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. 1637 Massachusetts Avenue's 29.5 kBtu/ft² across 10,761 sq ft works out to about 0.3 billion Btu (93 MWh-equivalent) in 2024. Its source EUI of 63.4 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 58,345 kWh of electricity, 1,186 therms of natural gas and 357 thousand gallons of water for the year.

Which law requires 1637 Massachusetts Avenue to report its energy use?

1637 Massachusetts Avenue 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:B1146:2024). 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).