1579 Meridian Ave

How does 1579 Meridian Ave compare with other retail store buildings in San José?

The latest disclosures cover 81 retail store buildings in San José, out of 1,790 buildings citywide. 1579 Meridian Ave's ENERGY STAR score of 83 compares with an average of 77 across the 67 that report a score; it scores higher than 39% of them and lower than 58%. Its site EUI of 48.0 kBtu/ft² is roughly in line with the average of 48.4 kBtu/ft² — it uses less energy per square foot than the typical building in that group.

At 20,330 sq ft, it is about 73% below the average floor area of 74,232 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1956, 34 years earlier than the group's average year built (1990). Across all 24 jurisdictions BuildingCensus covers, the 3,025 retail store buildings average an ENERGY STAR score of 73 and a site EUI of 57.7 kBtu/ft².

How has 1579 Meridian Ave's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 6 San José disclosures for 1579 Meridian Ave, covering report years 2019–2024. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 66 in 2019 to 83 in 2024 (+17 points); its best year on file was 2020, at 91. Site EUI moved from 58.7 kBtu/ft² (2019) to 48.0 kBtu/ft² (2024), a 18% decrease. Reported emissions went from 65 tCO₂e to 61 tCO₂e over the same span (down 7%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 83 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 83 means the building performs better than about 83% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 83 falls in band B — above median (70–84). 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. 1579 Meridian Ave's 48.0 kBtu/ft² across 20,330 sq ft works out to about 1 billion Btu (286 MWh-equivalent) in 2024. Its source EUI of 107.6 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 194,739 kWh of electricity, 3,110 therms of natural gas and 319 thousand gallons of water for the year.

Which law requires 1579 Meridian Ave to report its energy use?

1579 Meridian Ave 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:1132-0-00:2024). San José's BPO requires buildings over 20,000 sq ft to benchmark annually and complete beyond-benchmarking performance improvements on a rolling schedule.