20 California Street
Commercial in San Francisco, CA · 20 CALIFORNIA ST · 94111
At a glance
20 California Street is a 51,137-square-foot commercial building at 20 CALIFORNIA ST in San Francisco, California, built in 1908. In its 2025 San Francisco benchmarking disclosure it reported an ENERGY STAR score of 92 out of 100 (grade A), a site energy-use intensity of 12.7 kBtu/ft² and 37 tCO₂e of greenhouse-gas emissions. That score is higher than 65% of the 790 scored commercial buildings in San Francisco.
SF Environment Code Chapter 20 · reporting year 2025
Benchmarking record
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| ENERGY STAR score | 92 (band A) |
| Site EUI | 12.7 kBtu/ft² |
| Source EUI | 35.5 kBtu/ft² |
| GHG emissions | 37 tCO₂e |
| GHG intensity | 0.7 kgCO₂e/ft² |
| Electricity | 190,052 kWh |
| Gross floor area | 51,137 sq ft |
| Source record | sf:0235/009:2025 |
The disclosure history
Year over year
| Year | Score | Δ | Site EUI | GHG emissions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025latest | 92 | -5 | 12.7 kBtu/ft² | 37 tCO₂e |
| 2024 | 97 | +10 | 10.7 kBtu/ft² | 36 tCO₂e |
| 2023 | 87 | +5 | 18.5 kBtu/ft² | 78 tCO₂e |
| 2022 | 82 | 21.3 kBtu/ft² | 87 tCO₂e | |
| 2021 | — | 24.4 kBtu/ft² | 88 tCO₂e | |
| 2020 | — | 41.0 kBtu/ft² | 162 tCO₂e | |
| 2019 | 89 | -7 | 30.6 kBtu/ft² | 128 tCO₂e |
| 2018 | 96 | -2 | 20.6 kBtu/ft² | 86 tCO₂e |
| 2017 | 98 | +4 | 20.9 kBtu/ft² | 93 tCO₂e |
| 2016 | 94 | 26.0 kBtu/ft² | 115 tCO₂e | |
| 2015 | — | — | — | |
| 2014 | 93 | +17 | 22.9 kBtu/ft² | 109 tCO₂e |
| 2013 | 76 | -1 | 39.7 kBtu/ft² | 189 tCO₂e |
| 2012 | 77 | 31.0 kBtu/ft² | 148 tCO₂e | |
| 2011 | — | — | — |
Compliance context
SF Environment Code Chapter 20
San Francisco's ordinance requires annual benchmarking for commercial buildings over 10,000 sq ft, with administrative penalties for buildings that fail to report.
Ownership
No owning organisation shown. Names of private individuals in the disclosure are not published here.
Own or manage this building? Claim it to correct the record and get compliance alerts.
Location
- Address
- 20 CALIFORNIA ST
- City
- San Francisco
- State
- California
- ZIP
- 94111
- Coordinates
- 37.79390, -122.39697
Within ~1 km
Nearby benchmarked buildings
- 555 Californiascore 75
Commercial · 1,968,807 sq ft
- PGE-GO Complexscore —
Commercial · 1,948,626 sq ft
- One Market Plazascore 80
Commercial · 1,870,178 sq ft
- One Market Plazascore 79
Office · 1,830,339 sq ft
- 555 California Streetscore 76
Office · 1,810,397 sq ft
- 500 BATTERY STscore —
Mixed Residential · 1,779,579 sq ft
See also: most efficient in San Francisco · biggest emitters
How does 20 California Street compare with other commercial buildings in San Francisco?
The latest disclosures cover 1,683 commercial buildings in San Francisco, out of 2,509 buildings citywide. 20 California Street's ENERGY STAR score of 92 compares with an average of 78 across the 790 that report a score; it scores higher than 65% of them and lower than 32%. Its site EUI of 12.7 kBtu/ft² is about 74% below the average of 49.2 kBtu/ft² — it uses less energy per square foot than the typical building in that group. Its emissions intensity of 0.7 kgCO₂e/ft² is about 73% below the group average of 2.7 kgCO₂e/ft².
At 51,137 sq ft, it is about half of the average floor area of 107,408 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1908, 33 years earlier than the group's average year built (1941). Across all 24 jurisdictions BuildingCensus covers, the 2,307 commercial buildings average an ENERGY STAR score of 76 and a site EUI of 51.3 kBtu/ft².
How has 20 California Street's energy performance changed over time?
BuildingCensus holds 15 San Francisco disclosures for 20 California Street, covering report years 2011–2025. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 77 in 2012 to 92 in 2025 (+15 points); its best year on file was 2017, at 98. Site EUI moved from 31.0 kBtu/ft² (2012) to 12.7 kBtu/ft² (2025), a 59% decrease. Reported emissions went from 148 tCO₂e to 37 tCO₂e over the same span (down 75%).
What does an ENERGY STAR score of 92 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 92 means the building performs better than about 92% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 92 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 San Francisco, 73% 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. 20 California Street's 12.7 kBtu/ft² across 51,137 sq ft works out to about 0.6 billion Btu (190 MWh-equivalent) in 2025. Its source EUI of 35.5 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 190,052 kWh of electricity for the year.
Which law requires 20 California Street to report its energy use?
20 California Street reports under SF Environment Code Chapter 20, the legal basis of San Francisco's Existing Buildings Energy Performance Ordinance, which publishes each covered building's annual benchmarking results. The record shown here is the report-year 2025 disclosure (source record sf:0235/009:2025). San Francisco's ordinance requires annual benchmarking for commercial buildings over 10,000 sq ft, with administrative penalties for buildings that fail to report.
More commercial buildings in San Francisco
- 2299 Post Medical Center· 51,079 sq ft · score 100 (A)
- 1563 MISSION ST· 51,052 sq ft · score 100 (A)
- Gunst Building· 50,993 sq ft · score 44 (D)
- SF Culture Center· 50,725 sq ft · score 70 (B)
- 950 Van Ness Avenue, LLC· 50,700 sq ft · EUI 30.5 kBtu/ft²
- Mosser Hotel· 50,625 sq ft · score 100 (A)
- Commercial buildings in San Francisco· 1,683 benchmarked
- All San Francisco benchmarked buildings· SF Environment Code Chapter 20
- Most efficient large buildings in San Francisco
- Least efficient large buildings in San Francisco
- Biggest emitters in San Francisco
Frequently asked questions
What is 20 California Street's energy grade?
20 California Street scores 92 out of 100 on ENERGY STAR — band A, high performer (85–100) — in its 2025 San Francisco disclosure. Scores are national percentiles against similar buildings; 75+ qualifies for ENERGY STAR certification.
How much energy does 20 California Street use?
Its 2025 site energy-use intensity was 12.7 kBtu/ft² (35.5 kBtu/ft² source) across 51,137 sq ft, including 190,052 kWh of electricity.
What are 20 California Street's carbon emissions?
20 California Street reported 37 tCO₂e of greenhouse-gas emissions (0.7 kgCO₂e/ft²) for 2025.
Where is 20 California Street?
20 California Street is at 20 CALIFORNIA ST, in San Francisco, California 94111. Its coordinates are 37.79390, -122.39697 (latitude, longitude), as published in the Existing Buildings Energy Performance Ordinance file.
How big is 20 California Street and when was it built?
20 California Street has 51,137 sq ft of gross floor area, as reported in its 2025 disclosure. The disclosure lists 1908 as its year built. It is classed as commercial.
Is 20 California Street covered by SF Environment Code Chapter 20?
Yes — it appears in the 2025 Existing Buildings Energy Performance Ordinance disclosure, which lists the buildings reporting under SF Environment Code Chapter 20.
Working with San Francisco building benchmarking records? Pro adds alerts, change history and CSV export ($49/mo); Enterprise adds full national files, the API and an MCP server for AI tools.
About this data
Source: Existing Buildings Energy Performance Ordinance (SF Environment Code Chapter 20), as published October 2, 2026. See the methodology for how records are matched, cleaned and scored.
Cite as: BuildingCensus, “20 California Street, San Francisco, California — 2025 benchmarking disclosure”, https://buildingcensus.com/buildings/san-francisco/20-california-street-82628fe8 (data as of October 2, 2026).