4747 Bethesda Ave (Be197)

How does 4747 Bethesda Ave (Be197) compare with other office buildings in Montgomery County?

The latest disclosures cover 414 office buildings in Montgomery County, out of 1,766 buildings citywide. 4747 Bethesda Ave (Be197)'s ENERGY STAR score of 64 compares with an average of 63 across the 325 that report a score; it scores higher than 42% of them and lower than 57%. Its site EUI of 58.0 kBtu/ft² is about 13% below the average of 66.5 kBtu/ft² — it uses less energy per square foot than the typical building in that group.

At 317,418 sq ft, it is about 140% above the average floor area of 132,356 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 2019, 32 years later than the group's average year built (1987). 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 4747 Bethesda Ave (Be197)'s energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 2 Montgomery County disclosures for 4747 Bethesda Ave (Be197), covering report years 2023–2024. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 71 in 2023 to 64 in 2024 (-7 points); its best year on file was 2023, at 71. Site EUI moved from 48.6 kBtu/ft² (2023) to 58.0 kBtu/ft² (2024), an 19% increase. Reported emissions went from 1,353 tCO₂e to 1,566 tCO₂e over the same span (up 16%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 64 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 64 means the building performs better than about 64% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 64 falls in band C — below median (55–69). It sits 11 points below 75, the threshold for ENERGY STAR certification. In Montgomery County, 53% 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. 4747 Bethesda Ave (Be197)'s 58.0 kBtu/ft² across 317,418 sq ft works out to about 18.4 billion Btu (5,396 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 4,977,068 kWh of electricity and 14,269 therms of natural gas for the year.

Which law requires 4747 Bethesda Ave (Be197) to report its energy use?

4747 Bethesda Ave (Be197) reports under the Benchmarking Law (Bill 2-14) / BEPS (Bill 16-21), the legal basis of Montgomery County's Commercial Building Energy Benchmarking program, which publishes each covered building's annual benchmarking results. The record shown here is the report-year 2024 disclosure (source record montgomery_county:9633335:2024). Montgomery County's BEPS (Bill 16-21; regulations approved in 2025) sets declining site-EUI standards for buildings of 25,000+ sq ft, with interim and then final standards later this decade and into the 2030s depending on building type.