21 Kirkland st

How does 21 Kirkland st compare with other multifamily housing buildings in Cambridge?

The latest disclosures cover 187 multifamily housing buildings in Cambridge, out of 902 buildings citywide. 21 Kirkland st's ENERGY STAR score of 86 compares with an average of 75 across the 155 that report a score; it scores higher than 52% of them and lower than 46%. Its site EUI of 48.6 kBtu/ft² is about 15% below the average of 56.9 kBtu/ft² — it uses less energy per square foot than the typical building in that group.

At 8,230 sq ft, it is about 94% below the average floor area of 132,415 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1838, 135 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 21 Kirkland st's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 10 Cambridge disclosures for 21 Kirkland st, covering report years 2015–2024. Its ENERGY STAR score was 86 in both 2015 and 2024. Site EUI moved from 70.6 kBtu/ft² (2015) to 48.6 kBtu/ft² (2024), a 31% decrease. Reported emissions went from 40 tCO₂e to 28 tCO₂e over the same span (down 30%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 86 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 86 means the building performs better than about 86% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 86 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 Kirkland st's 48.6 kBtu/ft² across 8,230 sq ft works out to about 0.4 billion Btu (117 MWh-equivalent) in 2024. Its source EUI of 101.5 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 64,947 kWh of electricity, 24 therms of natural gas and 189 thousand gallons of water for the year.

Which law requires 21 Kirkland st to report its energy use?

21 Kirkland st 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:B1321:2024). 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).