130 Descanso Drive

How does 130 Descanso Drive compare with other multifamily housing buildings in San José?

The latest disclosures cover 476 multifamily housing buildings in San José, out of 1,790 buildings citywide. 130 Descanso Drive's ENERGY STAR score of 90 compares with an average of 86 across the 435 that report a score; it scores higher than 40% of them and lower than 57%. Its site EUI of 41.5 kBtu/ft² is about 18% above the average of 35.3 kBtu/ft² — it uses more energy per square foot than the typical building in that group.

At 340,673 sq ft, it is about twice the average floor area of 157,540 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 2006, 19 years later than the group's average year built (1987). Across all 24 jurisdictions BuildingCensus covers, the 59,945 multifamily housing buildings average an ENERGY STAR score of 70 and a site EUI of 59.0 kBtu/ft².

How has 130 Descanso Drive's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 7 San José disclosures for 130 Descanso Drive, covering report years 2018–2024. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 82 in 2020 to 90 in 2024 (+8 points). Site EUI moved from 45.5 kBtu/ft² (2020) to 41.5 kBtu/ft² (2024), a 9% decrease. Reported emissions went from 866 tCO₂e to 823 tCO₂e over the same span (down 5%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 90 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 90 means the building performs better than about 90% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 90 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 José, 69% 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. 130 Descanso Drive's 41.5 kBtu/ft² across 340,673 sq ft works out to about 14.1 billion Btu (4,143 MWh-equivalent) in 2024. Its source EUI of 71.7 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 1,604,381 kWh of electricity, 86,595 therms of natural gas and 18,423 thousand gallons of water for the year.

Which law requires 130 Descanso Drive to report its energy use?

130 Descanso Drive reports under San José Municipal Code Ch. 17.85 (Energy and Water Building Performance Ordinance), the legal basis of San José's Energy and Water Building Performance Ordinance, which publishes each covered building's annual benchmarking results. The record shown here is the report-year 2024 disclosure (source record san_jose:0079-0-01:2024). San José's BPO requires buildings over 20,000 sq ft to benchmark annually and complete beyond-benchmarking performance improvements on a rolling schedule.