29 Kirkland Street

How does 29 Kirkland Street compare with other office buildings in Cambridge?

The latest disclosures cover 117 office buildings in Cambridge, out of 902 buildings citywide. 29 Kirkland Street's ENERGY STAR score of 94 compares with an average of 64 across the 94 that report a score; it scores higher than 96% of them and lower than 3%. Its site EUI of 49.4 kBtu/ft² is about 37% below the average of 78.7 kBtu/ft² — it uses less energy per square foot than the typical building in that group.

At 57,896 sq ft, it is about half of the average floor area of 121,167 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1917, 48 years earlier than the group's average year built (1965). Across all 24 jurisdictions BuildingCensus covers, the 15,264 office buildings average an ENERGY STAR score of 73 and a site EUI of 59.3 kBtu/ft².

How has 29 Kirkland Street's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 10 Cambridge disclosures for 29 Kirkland Street, covering report years 2015–2024. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 100 in 2015 to 94 in 2024 (-6 points); its best year on file was 2015, at 100. Site EUI moved from 6.9 kBtu/ft² (2015) to 49.4 kBtu/ft² (2024), an 616% increase. Reported emissions went from 27 tCO₂e to 188 tCO₂e over the same span (up 603%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 94 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 94 means the building performs better than about 94% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 94 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. 29 Kirkland Street's 49.4 kBtu/ft² across 57,896 sq ft works out to about 2.9 billion Btu (838 MWh-equivalent) in 2024. Its source EUI of 69.4 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 132,714 kWh of electricity and 437 thousand gallons of water for the year.

Which law requires 29 Kirkland Street to report its energy use?

29 Kirkland 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:B1355:2024). 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).