Mercantile Building
Multifamily Housing in Philadelphia, PA · 20 North Front Street · 19106
At a glance
Mercantile Building is a 58,000-square-foot multifamily housing building at 20 North Front Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, built in 1831. In its 2020 Philadelphia benchmarking disclosure it reported an ENERGY STAR score of 87 out of 100 (grade A), a site energy-use intensity of 23.9 kBtu/ft² and 129 tCO₂e of greenhouse-gas emissions. That score is higher than 72% of the 682 scored multifamily housing buildings in Philadelphia.
Phila. Code §9-3402 / Building Energy Performance Program · reporting year 2020
Benchmarking record
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| ENERGY STAR score | 87 (band A) |
| Site EUI | 23.9 kBtu/ft² |
| Source EUI | 64.5 kBtu/ft² |
| GHG emissions | 129 tCO₂e |
| GHG intensity | — |
| Electricity | 383,201 kWh |
| Natural gas | 769 therms |
| Water use | 1,123 kgal |
| Gross floor area | 58,000 sq ft |
| Source record | philadelphia:8645813:2020 |
The disclosure history
Year over year
| Year | Score | Δ | Site EUI | GHG emissions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020latest | 87 | -10 | 23.9 kBtu/ft² | 129 tCO₂e |
| 2019 | 97 | 19.9 kBtu/ft² | 115 tCO₂e |
Compliance context
Phila. Code §9-3402 / Building Energy Performance Program
Philadelphia requires commercial and multifamily buildings of 50,000+ sq ft to benchmark annually; its Building Energy Performance Program additionally requires non-residential buildings of 50,000+ sq ft to complete a tune-up or certify as high-performance every five years, with fines starting at $2,000 for non-compliance.
Ownership
No owning organisation shown. Names of private individuals in the disclosure are not published here.
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Location
- Address
- 20 North Front Street
- City
- Philadelphia
- State
- Pennsylvania
- ZIP
- 19106
- Coordinates
- 39.95057, -75.14222
Within ~1 km
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Multifamily Housing · 210,222 sq ft
See also: most efficient in Philadelphia · biggest emitters
How does Mercantile Building compare with other multifamily housing buildings in Philadelphia?
The latest disclosures cover 768 multifamily housing buildings in Philadelphia, out of 2,379 buildings citywide. Mercantile Building's ENERGY STAR score of 87 compares with an average of 59 across the 682 that report a score; it scores higher than 72% of them and lower than 27%. Its site EUI of 23.9 kBtu/ft² is about 57% below the average of 55.6 kBtu/ft² — it uses less energy per square foot than the typical building in that group.
At 58,000 sq ft, it is about half of the average floor area of 125,469 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1831, 140 years earlier than the group's average year built (1971). 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 Mercantile Building's energy performance changed over time?
BuildingCensus holds 2 Philadelphia disclosures for Mercantile Building, covering report years 2019–2020. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 97 in 2019 to 87 in 2020 (-10 points); its best year on file was 2019, at 97. Site EUI moved from 19.9 kBtu/ft² (2019) to 23.9 kBtu/ft² (2020), an 20% increase. Reported emissions went from 115 tCO₂e to 129 tCO₂e over the same span (up 12%).
What does an ENERGY STAR score of 87 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 87 means the building performs better than about 87% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 87 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 Philadelphia, 35% 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. Mercantile Building's 23.9 kBtu/ft² across 58,000 sq ft works out to about 1.4 billion Btu (406 MWh-equivalent) in 2020. Its source EUI of 64.5 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 383,201 kWh of electricity, 769 therms of natural gas and 1,123 thousand gallons of water for the year.
Which law requires Mercantile Building to report its energy use?
Mercantile Building reports under Phila. Code §9-3402 / Building Energy Performance Program, the legal basis of Philadelphia's Building Energy Benchmarking program, which publishes each covered building's annual benchmarking results. The record shown here is the report-year 2020 disclosure (source record philadelphia:8645813:2020). Philadelphia requires commercial and multifamily buildings of 50,000+ sq ft to benchmark annually; its Building Energy Performance Program additionally requires non-residential buildings of 50,000+ sq ft to complete a tune-up or certify as high-performance every five years, with fines starting at $2,000 for non-compliance.
More multifamily housing buildings in Philadelphia
- Mural Lofts· 57,800 sq ft · score 60 (C)
- Tulpehocken Apartments, Inc.· 57,353 sq ft · EUI 67.5 kBtu/ft²
- The Vue· 57,220 sq ft · EUI 80.4 kBtu/ft²
- NewCourtland Apartments at Cliveden, L.P.· 57,209 sq ft · score 4 (D)
- Ralston Mercy Douglass· 56,784 sq ft · score 3 (D)
- Mariner's Court· 56,416 sq ft · score 82 (B)
- Multifamily Housing buildings in Philadelphia· 768 benchmarked
- All Philadelphia benchmarked buildings· Phila. Code §9-3402 / Building Energy Performance Program
- Most efficient large buildings in Philadelphia
- Least efficient large buildings in Philadelphia
- Biggest emitters in Philadelphia
Frequently asked questions
What is Mercantile Building's energy grade?
Mercantile Building scores 87 out of 100 on ENERGY STAR — band A, high performer (85–100) — in its 2020 Philadelphia disclosure. Scores are national percentiles against similar buildings; 75+ qualifies for ENERGY STAR certification.
How much energy does Mercantile Building use?
Its 2020 site energy-use intensity was 23.9 kBtu/ft² (64.5 kBtu/ft² source) across 58,000 sq ft, including 383,201 kWh of electricity and 769 therms of natural gas.
What are Mercantile Building's carbon emissions?
Mercantile Building reported 129 tCO₂e of greenhouse-gas emissions for 2020.
Where is Mercantile Building?
Mercantile Building is at 20 North Front Street, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19106. Its coordinates are 39.95057, -75.14222 (latitude, longitude), as published in the Building Energy Benchmarking file.
How big is Mercantile Building and when was it built?
Mercantile Building has 58,000 sq ft of gross floor area, as reported in its 2020 disclosure. The disclosure lists 1831 as its year built. It is classed as multifamily housing.
Is Mercantile Building covered by Phila. Code §9-3402 / Building Energy Performance Program?
Yes — it appears in the 2020 Building Energy Benchmarking disclosure, which lists the buildings reporting under Phila. Code §9-3402 / Building Energy Performance Program.
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About this data
Source: Building Energy Benchmarking (Phila. Code §9-3402 / Building Energy Performance Program), as published July 9, 2026. See the methodology for how records are matched, cleaned and scored.
Cite as: BuildingCensus, “Mercantile Building, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania — 2020 benchmarking disclosure”, https://buildingcensus.com/buildings/philadelphia/mercantile-building-0af5e159 (data as of July 9, 2026).