Plaza del Sol

How does Plaza del Sol 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 del Sol's ENERGY STAR score of 96 compares with an average of 85 across the 340 that report a score; it scores higher than 48% of them and lower than 47%. Its site EUI of 34.7 kBtu/ft² is roughly in line with the average of 36.0 kBtu/ft² — it uses less energy per square foot than the typical building in that group. Its emissions intensity of 1.9 kgCO₂e/ft² is roughly in line with the group average of 2.0 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 105,263 sq ft, it is about 36% below the average floor area of 165,572 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1994, 28 years later than the group's average year built (1967).

How has Plaza del Sol's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 8 San Francisco disclosures for Plaza del Sol, covering report years 2018–2025. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 50 in 2019 to 96 in 2025 (+46 points). Site EUI moved from 36.2 kBtu/ft² (2019) to 34.7 kBtu/ft² (2025), a 4% decrease. Reported emissions went from 151 tCO₂e to 136 tCO₂e over the same span (down 10%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 96 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 96 means the building performs better than about 96% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 96 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. Plaza del Sol's 34.7 kBtu/ft² across 105,263 sq ft works out to about 3.7 billion Btu (1,070 MWh-equivalent) in 2025. Its source EUI of 59.3 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 274,096 kWh of electricity and 15,509 therms of natural gas for the year.

Which law requires Plaza del Sol to report its energy use?

Plaza del Sol 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:3555/062:2025). San Francisco's ordinance requires annual benchmarking for commercial buildings over 10,000 sq ft, with administrative penalties for buildings that fail to report.