49 White St

How does 49 White St compare with other buildings in Cambridge?

The latest disclosures cover 902 benchmarked buildings in Cambridge. 49 White St's ENERGY STAR score of 86 compares with an average of 66 across the 374 that report a score. Its site EUI of 189.2 kBtu/ft² is about 61% above the average of 117.2 kBtu/ft² — it uses more energy per square foot than the typical building in that group.

At 52,062 sq ft, it is about half of the average floor area of 114,869 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1999, 37 years later than the group's average year built (1962). Across all 24 jurisdictions BuildingCensus covers, the 1,646 supermarket/grocery store buildings average an ENERGY STAR score of 71 and a site EUI of 176.1 kBtu/ft².

How has 49 White St's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 10 Cambridge disclosures for 49 White St, covering report years 2015–2024. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 93 in 2015 to 86 in 2024 (-7 points); its best year on file was 2017, at 95. Site EUI moved from 328.9 kBtu/ft² (2015) to 189.2 kBtu/ft² (2024), a 42% decrease. Reported emissions went from 979 tCO₂e to 563 tCO₂e over the same span (down 43%).

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. 49 White St's 189.2 kBtu/ft² across 52,062 sq ft works out to about 9.9 billion Btu (2,887 MWh-equivalent) in 2024. Its source EUI of 445.8 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 1,828,228 kWh of electricity, 21,205 therms of natural gas and 9 thousand gallons of water for the year.

Which law requires 49 White St to report its energy use?

49 White 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:B1304:2024). 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).