ACLU of Northern California

How does ACLU of Northern California 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. ACLU of Northern California'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 19.9 kBtu/ft² is about 60% 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 1.1 kgCO₂e/ft² is about 59% below the group average of 2.7 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 47,838 sq ft, it is about 55% 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 ACLU of Northern California's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 15 San Francisco disclosures for ACLU of Northern California, covering report years 2011–2025. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 97 in 2012 to 89 in 2025 (-8 points); its best year on file was 2016, at 99. Site EUI moved from 42.1 kBtu/ft² (2012) to 19.9 kBtu/ft² (2025), a 53% decrease. Reported emissions went from 146 tCO₂e to 54 tCO₂e over the same span (down 63%).

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. ACLU of Northern California's 19.9 kBtu/ft² across 47,838 sq ft works out to about 1 billion Btu (279 MWh-equivalent) in 2025. Its source EUI of 47.6 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 213,873 kWh of electricity and 2,231 therms of natural gas for the year.

Which law requires ACLU of Northern California to report its energy use?

ACLU of Northern California 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:0235/025:2025). San Francisco's ordinance requires annual benchmarking for commercial buildings over 10,000 sq ft, with administrative penalties for buildings that fail to report.