Digital Realty Trust

How does Digital Realty Trust 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. Digital Realty Trust's ENERGY STAR score of 36 compares with an average of 78 across the 790 that report a score; it scores higher than 8% of them and lower than 92%. Its site EUI of 639.5 kBtu/ft² is about 1200% above the average of 49.2 kBtu/ft² — it uses more energy per square foot than the typical building in that group. Its emissions intensity of 36.6 kgCO₂e/ft² is about 1254% above the group average of 2.7 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 673,926 sq ft, it is about 527% above the average floor area of 107,408 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1955, 14 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 Digital Realty Trust's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 15 San Francisco disclosures for Digital Realty Trust, covering report years 2011–2025. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 13 in 2011 to 36 in 2025 (+23 points). Site EUI moved from 608.8 kBtu/ft² (2011) to 639.5 kBtu/ft² (2025), an 5% increase. Reported emissions went from 18,733 tCO₂e to 20,380 tCO₂e over the same span (up 9%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 36 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 36 means the building performs better than about 36% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 36 falls in band D — lowest band (1–54). It sits 39 points below 75, the threshold for ENERGY STAR certification. 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. Digital Realty Trust's 639.5 kBtu/ft² across 673,926 sq ft works out to about 431 billion Btu (126,307 MWh-equivalent) in 2025. Its source EUI of 1785.5 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 103,964,028 kWh of electricity and 8,521 therms of natural gas for the year.

Which law requires Digital Realty Trust to report its energy use?

Digital Realty Trust 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:5431A/001F: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.