410 Townsend

How does 410 Townsend 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. 410 Townsend's ENERGY STAR score of 89 compares with an average of 78 across the 790 that report a score; it scores higher than 58% of them and lower than 39%. Its site EUI of 30.5 kBtu/ft² is about 38% 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 1.8 kgCO₂e/ft² is about 35% below the group average of 2.7 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 93,567 sq ft, it is about 13% below the average floor area of 107,408 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1912, 29 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 410 Townsend's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 15 San Francisco disclosures for 410 Townsend, covering report years 2011–2025. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 71 in 2011 to 89 in 2025 (+18 points); its best year on file was 2019, at 98. Site EUI moved from 77.3 kBtu/ft² (2011) to 30.5 kBtu/ft² (2025), a 61% decrease. Reported emissions went from 387 tCO₂e to 131 tCO₂e over the same span (down 66%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 89 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 89 means the building performs better than about 89% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 89 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. 410 Townsend's 30.5 kBtu/ft² across 93,567 sq ft works out to about 2.9 billion Btu (836 MWh-equivalent) in 2025. Its source EUI of 85.5 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 673,306 kWh of electricity and 0 therms of natural gas for the year.

Which law requires 410 Townsend to report its energy use?

410 Townsend 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:3785/002A: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.