1496 Almaden Rd

How does 1496 Almaden Rd 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. 1496 Almaden Rd's ENERGY STAR score of 99 compares with an average of 86 across the 435 that report a score; it scores higher than 69% of them and lower than 25%. Its site EUI of 21.2 kBtu/ft² is about 40% below the average of 35.3 kBtu/ft² — it uses less energy per square foot than the typical building in that group.

At 107,663 sq ft, it is about 32% below the average floor area of 157,540 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1999, 12 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 1496 Almaden Rd's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 7 San José disclosures for 1496 Almaden Rd, covering report years 2018–2024. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 96 in 2018 to 99 in 2024 (+3 points); its best year on file was 2020, at 100. Site EUI moved from 22.6 kBtu/ft² (2018) to 21.2 kBtu/ft² (2024), a 6% decrease. Reported emissions went from 128 tCO₂e to 138 tCO₂e over the same span (up 8%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 99 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 99 means the building performs better than about 99% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 99 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. 1496 Almaden Rd's 21.2 kBtu/ft² across 107,663 sq ft works out to about 2.3 billion Btu (669 MWh-equivalent) in 2024. Its source EUI of 43.0 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 373,340 kWh of electricity, 10,117 therms of natural gas and 4,322 thousand gallons of water for the year.

Which law requires 1496 Almaden Rd to report its energy use?

1496 Almaden Rd 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:1366-0-00:2024). San José's BPO requires buildings over 20,000 sq ft to benchmark annually and complete beyond-benchmarking performance improvements on a rolling schedule.