First Baptist Church Of Silver Spring

How does First Baptist Church Of Silver Spring compare with other worship facility buildings in Montgomery County?

The latest disclosures cover 79 worship facility buildings in Montgomery County, out of 1,766 buildings citywide. First Baptist Church Of Silver Spring's ENERGY STAR score of 59 compares with an average of 51 across the 65 that report a score; it scores higher than 55% of them and lower than 43%. Its site EUI of 33.5 kBtu/ft² is about 22% below the average of 42.9 kBtu/ft² — it uses less energy per square foot than the typical building in that group.

At 30,000 sq ft, it is about 35% below the average floor area of 46,476 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 2018, 44 years later than the group's average year built (1974). Across all 24 jurisdictions BuildingCensus covers, the 1,035 worship facility buildings average an ENERGY STAR score of 50 and a site EUI of 47.8 kBtu/ft².

How has First Baptist Church Of Silver Spring's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 2 Montgomery County disclosures for First Baptist Church Of Silver Spring, covering report years 2023–2024. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 60 in 2023 to 59 in 2024 (-1 points); its best year on file was 2023, at 60. Site EUI moved from 31.6 kBtu/ft² (2023) to 33.5 kBtu/ft² (2024), an 6% increase. Reported emissions went from 71 tCO₂e to 72 tCO₂e over the same span (up 3%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 59 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 59 means the building performs better than about 59% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 59 falls in band C — below median (55–69). It sits 16 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. First Baptist Church Of Silver Spring's 33.5 kBtu/ft² across 30,000 sq ft works out to about 1 billion Btu (295 MWh-equivalent) in 2024. Its source EUI of 67.3 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 161,529 kWh of electricity and 4,540 therms of natural gas for the year.

Which law requires First Baptist Church Of Silver Spring to report its energy use?

First Baptist Church Of Silver Spring 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:25112210:2024). 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.