1520 Branham Ln

How does 1520 Branham Ln 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. 1520 Branham Ln's ENERGY STAR score of 88 compares with an average of 86 across the 435 that report a score; it scores higher than 36% of them and lower than 62%. Its site EUI of 38.8 kBtu/ft² is roughly in line with the average of 35.3 kBtu/ft².

At 85,468 sq ft, it is about half of the average floor area of 157,540 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1973, 14 years earlier 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 1520 Branham Ln's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 7 San José disclosures for 1520 Branham Ln, covering report years 2018–2024. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 100 in 2019 to 88 in 2024 (-12 points); its best year on file was 2019, at 100. Site EUI moved from 6.0 kBtu/ft² (2019) to 38.8 kBtu/ft² (2024), an 547% increase. Reported emissions went from 132 tCO₂e to 195 tCO₂e over the same span (up 48%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 88 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 88 means the building performs better than about 88% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 88 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. 1520 Branham Ln's 38.8 kBtu/ft² across 85,468 sq ft works out to about 3.3 billion Btu (972 MWh-equivalent) in 2024. Its source EUI of 70.2 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 422,558 kWh of electricity, 18,703 therms of natural gas and 5,261 thousand gallons of water for the year.

Which law requires 1520 Branham Ln to report its energy use?

1520 Branham Ln 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:1880-0-00:2024). San José's BPO requires buildings over 20,000 sq ft to benchmark annually and complete beyond-benchmarking performance improvements on a rolling schedule.