88 Ames Street

How does 88 Ames Street compare with other multifamily housing buildings in Cambridge?

The latest disclosures cover 187 multifamily housing buildings in Cambridge, out of 902 buildings citywide. 88 Ames Street's ENERGY STAR score of 45 compares with an average of 75 across the 155 that report a score; it scores higher than 15% of them and lower than 84%. Its site EUI of 72.4 kBtu/ft² is about 27% above the average of 56.9 kBtu/ft² — it uses more energy per square foot than the typical building in that group.

At 181,217 sq ft, it is about 37% above the average floor area of 132,415 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 2018, 45 years later 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 88 Ames Street's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 5 Cambridge disclosures for 88 Ames Street, covering report years 2020–2024. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 81 in 2020 to 45 in 2024 (-36 points); its best year on file was 2020, at 81. Site EUI moved from 56.9 kBtu/ft² (2020) to 72.4 kBtu/ft² (2024), an 27% increase. Reported emissions went from 653 tCO₂e to 852 tCO₂e over the same span (up 31%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 45 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 45 means the building performs better than about 45% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 45 falls in band D — lowest band (1–54). It sits 30 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. 88 Ames Street's 72.4 kBtu/ft² across 181,217 sq ft works out to about 13.1 billion Btu (3,845 MWh-equivalent) in 2024. Its source EUI of 154.5 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 2,380,230 kWh of electricity, 50,020 therms of natural gas and 6,336 thousand gallons of water for the year.

Which law requires 88 Ames Street to report its energy use?

88 Ames 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:B1653:2024). 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).