1654 Massachusetts Avenue

How does 1654 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. 1654 Massachusetts Avenue's ENERGY STAR score of 4 compares with an average of 75 across the 155 that report a score; it scores higher than 0% of them and lower than 99%. Its site EUI of 165.5 kBtu/ft² is about 191% above the average of 56.9 kBtu/ft² — it uses more energy per square foot than the typical building in that group.

At 35,683 sq ft, it is about 73% below the average floor area of 132,415 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1900, 73 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 1654 Massachusetts Avenue's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 10 Cambridge disclosures for 1654 Massachusetts Avenue, covering report years 2015–2024. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 100 in 2015 to 4 in 2024 (-96 points); its best year on file was 2015, at 100. Site EUI moved from 20.7 kBtu/ft² (2015) to 165.5 kBtu/ft² (2024), an 700% increase. Reported emissions went from 301 tCO₂e to 325 tCO₂e over the same span (up 8%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 4 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 4 means the building performs better than about 4% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 4 falls in band D — lowest band (1–54). It sits 71 points below 75, the threshold for ENERGY STAR certification. 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. 1654 Massachusetts Avenue's 165.5 kBtu/ft² across 35,683 sq ft works out to about 5.9 billion Btu (1,731 MWh-equivalent) in 2024. Its source EUI of 202.5 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 171,180 kWh of electricity, 53,230 therms of natural gas and 882 thousand gallons of water for the year.

Which law requires 1654 Massachusetts Avenue to report its energy use?

1654 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:B1624:2024). 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).