21 Harvard Yard

How does 21 Harvard Yard compare with other residence hall/dormitory buildings in Cambridge?

The latest disclosures cover 43 residence hall/dormitory buildings in Cambridge, out of 902 buildings citywide. 21 Harvard Yard's ENERGY STAR score of 88 compares with an average of 80 across the 27 that report a score; it scores higher than 67% of them and lower than 30%. Its site EUI of 48.7 kBtu/ft² is about 31% below the average of 70.2 kBtu/ft² — it uses less energy per square foot than the typical building in that group.

At 57,869 sq ft, it is about 43% below the average floor area of 102,348 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1870, 46 years earlier than the group's average year built (1916). Across all 24 jurisdictions BuildingCensus covers, the 702 residence hall/dormitory buildings average an ENERGY STAR score of 70 and a site EUI of 70.7 kBtu/ft².

How has 21 Harvard Yard's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 10 Cambridge disclosures for 21 Harvard Yard, covering report years 2015–2024. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 87 in 2015 to 88 in 2024 (+1 points); its best year on file was 2020, at 93. Site EUI moved from 49.9 kBtu/ft² (2015) to 48.7 kBtu/ft² (2024), a 2% decrease. Reported emissions went from 198 tCO₂e to 189 tCO₂e over the same span (down 5%).

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. 21 Harvard Yard's 48.7 kBtu/ft² across 57,869 sq ft works out to about 2.8 billion Btu (826 MWh-equivalent) in 2024. Its source EUI of 79.9 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 232,034 kWh of electricity, 2,211 therms of natural gas and 1,792 thousand gallons of water for the year.

Which law requires 21 Harvard Yard to report its energy use?

21 Harvard Yard 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:B1148:2024). 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).