55 Water

How does 55 Water 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. 55 Water's ENERGY STAR score of 78 compares with an average of 72 across the 2,519 that report a score; it scores higher than 48% of them and lower than 50%. Its site EUI of 64.2 kBtu/ft² is roughly in line with the average of 64.5 kBtu/ft² — it uses less energy per square foot than the typical building in that group. Its emissions intensity of 6.5 kgCO₂e/ft² is about 13% above the group average of 5.8 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 3,486,407 sq ft, it is about 1597% above the average floor area of 205,440 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1972, 32 years later 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 55 Water's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 3 New York City disclosures for 55 Water, covering report years 2022–2024. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 81 in 2022 to 78 in 2024 (-3 points); its best year on file was 2023, at 82. Site EUI moved from 69.9 kBtu/ft² (2022) to 64.2 kBtu/ft² (2024), a 8% decrease. Reported emissions went from 19,281 tCO₂e to 22,761 tCO₂e over the same span (up 18%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 78 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 78 means the building performs better than about 78% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 78 falls in band B — above median (70–84). 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. 55 Water's 64.2 kBtu/ft² across 3,486,407 sq ft works out to about 223.8 billion Btu (65,597 MWh-equivalent) in 2024. Its source EUI of 151.3 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 47,513,794 kWh of electricity, 6,808 therms of natural gas and 67,069 thousand gallons of water for the year.

Which law requires 55 Water to report its energy use?

55 Water 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:2481300:2024). 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.