881 Mass. Avenue
Multifamily Housing in Cambridge, MA
At a glance
881 Mass. Avenue is a 59,746-square-foot multifamily housing building in Cambridge, Massachusetts, built in 1915. In its 2024 Cambridge benchmarking disclosure it reported an ENERGY STAR score of 93 out of 100 (grade A), a site energy-use intensity of 57.9 kBtu/ft² and 196 tCO₂e of greenhouse-gas emissions. That score is higher than 66% of the 155 scored multifamily housing buildings in Cambridge.
BEUDO · reporting year 2024
Benchmarking record
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| ENERGY STAR score | 93 (band A) |
| Site EUI | 57.9 kBtu/ft² |
| Source EUI | 79.3 kBtu/ft² |
| GHG emissions | 196 tCO₂e |
| GHG intensity | — |
| Electricity | 185,076 kWh |
| Natural gas | 28,259 therms |
| Water use | 1,770 kgal |
| Gross floor area | 59,746 sq ft |
| Source record | cambridge:B1595:2024 |
The disclosure history
Year over year
| Year | Score | Δ | Site EUI | GHG emissions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024latest | 93 | +2 | 57.9 kBtu/ft² | 196 tCO₂e |
| 2023 | 91 | -3 | 60.3 kBtu/ft² | 203 tCO₂e |
| 2022 | 94 | ±0 | 58.4 kBtu/ft² | 196 tCO₂e |
| 2021 | 94 | -6 | 58.7 kBtu/ft² | 197 tCO₂e |
| 2020 | 100 | ±0 | 6.5 kBtu/ft² | 27 tCO₂e |
| 2019 | 100 | ±0 | 6.5 kBtu/ft² | 25 tCO₂e |
| 2018 | 100 | ±0 | 6.5 kBtu/ft² | 27 tCO₂e |
| 2017 | 100 | ±0 | 6.7 kBtu/ft² | 30 tCO₂e |
| 2016 | 100 | ±0 | 6.3 kBtu/ft² | 28 tCO₂e |
| 2015 | 100 | 6.5 kBtu/ft² | 30 tCO₂e |
Compliance context
BEUDO
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).
Ownership
No owning organisation shown. Names of private individuals in the disclosure are not published here.
Own or manage this building? Claim it to correct the record and get compliance alerts.
Location
- Address
- 881 Mass. Avenue
- City
- Cambridge
- State
- Massachusetts
- Coordinates
- 42.36810, -71.10770
Within ~1 km
Nearby benchmarked buildings
- 900 Memorial Drivescore 47
Multifamily Housing · 450,849 sq ft
- 459 Broadwayscore 71
K-12 School · 403,393 sq ft
- 1493 Cambridge Streetscore 33
Hospital (General Medical & Surgical) · 360,250 sq ft
- 1575 Cambridge Streetscore —
Outpatient Rehabilitation/Physical Therapy · 352,622 sq ft
- 812 Memorial Drscore 99
Multifamily Housing · 283,150 sq ft
- 45 Sidney Streetscore —
Laboratory · 277,000 sq ft
See also: most efficient in Cambridge · biggest emitters
How does 881 Mass. Avenue compare with other multifamily housing buildings in Cambridge?
The latest disclosures cover 187 multifamily housing buildings in Cambridge, out of 902 buildings citywide. 881 Mass. Avenue's ENERGY STAR score of 93 compares with an average of 75 across the 155 that report a score; it scores higher than 66% of them and lower than 29%. Its site EUI of 57.9 kBtu/ft² is roughly in line with the average of 56.9 kBtu/ft².
At 59,746 sq ft, it is about half of the average floor area of 132,415 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1915, 58 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 881 Mass. Avenue's energy performance changed over time?
BuildingCensus holds 10 Cambridge disclosures for 881 Mass. Avenue, covering report years 2015–2024. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 100 in 2015 to 93 in 2024 (-7 points); its best year on file was 2015, at 100. Site EUI moved from 6.5 kBtu/ft² (2015) to 57.9 kBtu/ft² (2024), an 791% increase. Reported emissions went from 30 tCO₂e to 196 tCO₂e over the same span (up 560%).
What does an ENERGY STAR score of 93 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 93 means the building performs better than about 93% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 93 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. 881 Mass. Avenue's 57.9 kBtu/ft² across 59,746 sq ft works out to about 3.5 billion Btu (1,014 MWh-equivalent) in 2024. Its source EUI of 79.3 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 185,076 kWh of electricity, 28,259 therms of natural gas and 1,770 thousand gallons of water for the year.
Which law requires 881 Mass. Avenue to report its energy use?
881 Mass. Avenue 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:B1595:2024). 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).
More multifamily housing buildings in Cambridge
- 931 Massachusetts Ave· 59,260 sq ft · score 64 (C)
- 243 Broadway· 57,927 sq ft · score 52 (D)
- 6 Fresh Pond Place· 57,875 sq ft · score 65 (C)
- 23 Sidney Street· 56,631 sq ft · score 17 (D)
- 20 Ware St· 55,005 sq ft · score 93 (A)
- 17-19A Forest Street· 53,884 sq ft · score 6 (D)
- Multifamily Housing buildings in Cambridge· 187 benchmarked
- All Cambridge benchmarked buildings· BEUDO
- Most efficient large buildings in Cambridge
- Least efficient large buildings in Cambridge
- Biggest emitters in Cambridge
Frequently asked questions
What is 881 Mass. Avenue's energy grade?
881 Mass. Avenue scores 93 out of 100 on ENERGY STAR — band A, high performer (85–100) — in its 2024 Cambridge disclosure. Scores are national percentiles against similar buildings; 75+ qualifies for ENERGY STAR certification.
How much energy does 881 Mass. Avenue use?
Its 2024 site energy-use intensity was 57.9 kBtu/ft² (79.3 kBtu/ft² source) across 59,746 sq ft, including 185,076 kWh of electricity and 28,259 therms of natural gas.
What are 881 Mass. Avenue's carbon emissions?
881 Mass. Avenue reported 196 tCO₂e of greenhouse-gas emissions for 2024.
Where is 881 Mass. Avenue?
881 Mass. Avenue is in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Its coordinates are 42.36810, -71.10770 (latitude, longitude), as published in the Building Energy Use Disclosure Ordinance (BEUDO) file.
How big is 881 Mass. Avenue and when was it built?
881 Mass. Avenue has 59,746 sq ft of gross floor area, as reported in its 2024 disclosure. The disclosure lists 1915 as its year built. It is classed as multifamily housing.
Is 881 Mass. Avenue covered by BEUDO?
Yes — it appears in the 2024 Building Energy Use Disclosure Ordinance (BEUDO) disclosure, which lists the buildings reporting under BEUDO.
Working with Cambridge building benchmarking records? Pro adds alerts, change history and CSV export ($49/mo); Enterprise adds full national files, the API and an MCP server for AI tools.
About this data
Source: Building Energy Use Disclosure Ordinance (BEUDO) (BEUDO), as published October 2, 2026. See the methodology for how records are matched, cleaned and scored.
Cite as: BuildingCensus, “881 Mass. Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts — 2024 benchmarking disclosure”, https://buildingcensus.com/buildings/cambridge/881-mass-avenue-600f8d3f (data as of October 2, 2026).