Sugar Refinery
Multifamily Housing in Philadelphia, PA · 225-231 Church Street · 19106
At a glance
Sugar Refinery is a 66,104-square-foot multifamily housing building at 225-231 Church Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, built in 1900. In its 2021 Philadelphia benchmarking disclosure it reported an ENERGY STAR score of 87 out of 100 (grade A), a site energy-use intensity of 28.2 kBtu/ft² and 173 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 2021
Benchmarking record
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| ENERGY STAR score | 87 (band A) |
| Site EUI | 28.2 kBtu/ft² |
| Source EUI | 78.8 kBtu/ft² |
| GHG emissions | 173 tCO₂e |
| GHG intensity | — |
| Electricity | 545,439 kWh |
| Water use | 1,799 kgal |
| Gross floor area | 66,104 sq ft |
| Source record | philadelphia:4905892:2021 |
The disclosure history
Year over year
| Year | Score | Δ | Site EUI | GHG emissions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021latest | 87 | +2 | 28.2 kBtu/ft² | 173 tCO₂e |
| 2019 | 85 | 29.7 kBtu/ft² | 199 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
- 225-231 Church Street
- City
- Philadelphia
- State
- Pennsylvania
- ZIP
- 19106
- Coordinates
- 39.95099, -75.14491
Within ~1 km
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How does Sugar Refinery compare with other multifamily housing buildings in Philadelphia?
The latest disclosures cover 768 multifamily housing buildings in Philadelphia, out of 2,379 buildings citywide. Sugar Refinery'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 28.2 kBtu/ft² is about half of the average of 55.6 kBtu/ft² — it uses less energy per square foot than the typical building in that group.
At 66,104 sq ft, it is about half of the average floor area of 125,469 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1900, 71 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 Sugar Refinery's energy performance changed over time?
BuildingCensus holds 2 Philadelphia disclosures for Sugar Refinery, covering report years 2019, 2021. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 85 in 2019 to 87 in 2021 (+2 points). Site EUI moved from 29.7 kBtu/ft² (2019) to 28.2 kBtu/ft² (2021), a 5% decrease. Reported emissions went from 199 tCO₂e to 173 tCO₂e over the same span (down 13%).
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. Sugar Refinery's 28.2 kBtu/ft² across 66,104 sq ft works out to about 1.9 billion Btu (546 MWh-equivalent) in 2021. Its source EUI of 78.8 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 545,439 kWh of electricity and 1,799 thousand gallons of water for the year.
Which law requires Sugar Refinery to report its energy use?
Sugar Refinery 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 2021 disclosure (source record philadelphia:4905892:2021). 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
- Guild House East· 66,030 sq ft · score 54 (D)
- Symphony House· 66,000 sq ft · score 86 (A)
- Walnut Hill Campus Apartments· 65,910 sq ft · score 33 (D)
- Casa Caribe· 65,270 sq ft · score 88 (A)
- Coronado Condominiums· 65,000 sq ft · score 99 (A)
- 7701 Bustleton· 64,768 sq ft · score 40 (D)
- 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 Sugar Refinery's energy grade?
Sugar Refinery scores 87 out of 100 on ENERGY STAR — band A, high performer (85–100) — in its 2021 Philadelphia disclosure. Scores are national percentiles against similar buildings; 75+ qualifies for ENERGY STAR certification.
How much energy does Sugar Refinery use?
Its 2021 site energy-use intensity was 28.2 kBtu/ft² (78.8 kBtu/ft² source) across 66,104 sq ft, including 545,439 kWh of electricity.
What are Sugar Refinery's carbon emissions?
Sugar Refinery reported 173 tCO₂e of greenhouse-gas emissions for 2021.
Where is Sugar Refinery?
Sugar Refinery is at 225-231 Church Street, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19106. Its coordinates are 39.95099, -75.14491 (latitude, longitude), as published in the Building Energy Benchmarking file.
How big is Sugar Refinery and when was it built?
Sugar Refinery has 66,104 sq ft of gross floor area, as reported in its 2021 disclosure. The disclosure lists 1900 as its year built. It is classed as multifamily housing.
Is Sugar Refinery covered by Phila. Code §9-3402 / Building Energy Performance Program?
Yes — it appears in the 2021 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, “Sugar Refinery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania — 2021 benchmarking disclosure”, https://buildingcensus.com/buildings/philadelphia/sugar-refinery-dd306d83 (data as of July 9, 2026).