Plaza (988 Howard)

How does Plaza (988 Howard) compare with other mixed residential buildings in San Francisco?

The latest disclosures cover 610 mixed residential buildings in San Francisco, out of 2,509 buildings citywide. Plaza (988 Howard)'s ENERGY STAR score of 42 compares with an average of 85 across the 340 that report a score; it scores higher than 8% of them and lower than 92%. Its site EUI of 67.3 kBtu/ft² is about 87% above the average of 36.0 kBtu/ft² — it uses more energy per square foot than the typical building in that group. Its emissions intensity of 3.7 kgCO₂e/ft² is about 85% above the group average of 2.0 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 63,501 sq ft, it is about 62% below the average floor area of 165,572 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1907, 59 years earlier than the group's average year built (1967).

How has Plaza (988 Howard)'s energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 8 San Francisco disclosures for Plaza (988 Howard), covering report years 2018–2025. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 91 in 2018 to 42 in 2025 (-49 points); its best year on file was 2018, at 91. Site EUI moved from 49.5 kBtu/ft² (2018) to 67.3 kBtu/ft² (2025), an 36% increase. Reported emissions went from 183 tCO₂e to 234 tCO₂e over the same span (up 28%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 42 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 42 means the building performs better than about 42% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 42 falls in band D — lowest band (1–54). It sits 33 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. Plaza (988 Howard)'s 67.3 kBtu/ft² across 63,501 sq ft works out to about 4.3 billion Btu (1,252 MWh-equivalent) in 2025. Its source EUI of 119.6 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 520,385 kWh of electricity and 25,005 therms of natural gas for the year.

Which law requires Plaza (988 Howard) to report its energy use?

Plaza (988 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:3725/025:2025). San Francisco's ordinance requires annual benchmarking for commercial buildings over 10,000 sq ft, with administrative penalties for buildings that fail to report.