540 Broadway

How does 540 Broadway compare with other office buildings in New York City?

The latest disclosures cover 3,384 office buildings in New York City, out of 48,310 buildings citywide. 540 Broadway's ENERGY STAR score of 86 compares with an average of 72 across the 2,519 that report a score; it scores higher than 65% of them and lower than 33%. Its site EUI of 67.4 kBtu/ft² is roughly in line with the average of 64.5 kBtu/ft². Its emissions intensity of 7.0 kgCO₂e/ft² is about 21% above the group average of 5.8 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 25,050 sq ft, it is about 88% below the average floor area of 205,440 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1876, 64 years earlier than the group's average year built (1940). 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 540 Broadway's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 2 New York City disclosures for 540 Broadway, covering report years 2023–2024. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 96 in 2023 to 86 in 2024 (-10 points); its best year on file was 2023, at 96. Site EUI moved from 40.8 kBtu/ft² (2023) to 67.4 kBtu/ft² (2024), an 65% increase. Reported emissions went from 108 tCO₂e to 176 tCO₂e over the same span (up 63%).

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 New York City, 43% 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. 540 Broadway's 67.4 kBtu/ft² across 25,050 sq ft works out to about 1.7 billion Btu (495 MWh-equivalent) in 2024. Its source EUI of 156.2 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 361,387 kWh of electricity and 260 thousand gallons of water for the year.

Which law requires 540 Broadway to report its energy use?

540 Broadway reports under Local Law 84 (LL84), the legal basis of New York City's Energy and Water Data Disclosure program, which publishes each covered building's annual benchmarking results. The record shown here is the report-year 2024 disclosure (source record nyc:32539762:2024). Under Local Law 97, buildings over 25,000 sq ft face carbon caps with fines of $268 per metric ton of CO₂e over the limit, phasing in from 2024.