301 Howard

How does 301 Howard 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. 301 Howard's ENERGY STAR score of 83 compares with an average of 78 across the 790 that report a score; it scores higher than 44% of them and lower than 54%. Its site EUI of 46.4 kBtu/ft² is roughly in line with 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 2.5 kgCO₂e/ft² is roughly in line with the group average of 2.7 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 342,355 sq ft, it is about 219% above the average floor area of 107,408 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1987, 46 years later 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 301 Howard's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 15 San Francisco disclosures for 301 Howard, covering report years 2011–2025. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 85 in 2011 to 83 in 2025 (-2 points); its best year on file was 2017, at 91. Site EUI moved from 47.4 kBtu/ft² (2011) to 46.4 kBtu/ft² (2025), a 2% decrease. Reported emissions went from 1,259 tCO₂e to 873 tCO₂e over the same span (down 31%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 83 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 83 means the building performs better than about 83% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 83 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 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. 301 Howard's 46.4 kBtu/ft² across 342,355 sq ft works out to about 15.9 billion Btu (4,656 MWh-equivalent) in 2025. Its source EUI of 86.0 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 2,138,205 kWh of electricity and 85,846 therms of natural gas for the year.

Which law requires 301 Howard to report its energy use?

301 Howard 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:3738/011:2025). San Francisco's ordinance requires annual benchmarking for commercial buildings over 10,000 sq ft, with administrative penalties for buildings that fail to report.