2050 Southwest Expy

How does 2050 Southwest Expy 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. 2050 Southwest Expy's ENERGY STAR score of 85 compares with an average of 86 across the 435 that report a score; it scores higher than 28% of them and lower than 67%. Its site EUI of 44.5 kBtu/ft² is about 26% above the average of 35.3 kBtu/ft² — it uses more energy per square foot than the typical building in that group.

At 89,120 sq ft, it is about 43% below the average floor area of 157,540 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1970, 17 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 2050 Southwest Expy's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 7 San José disclosures for 2050 Southwest Expy, covering report years 2018–2024. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 100 in 2018 to 85 in 2024 (-15 points); its best year on file was 2018, at 100. Site EUI moved from 31.6 kBtu/ft² (2018) to 44.5 kBtu/ft² (2024), an 41% increase. Reported emissions went from 194 tCO₂e to 226 tCO₂e over the same span (up 17%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 85 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 85 means the building performs better than about 85% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 85 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. 2050 Southwest Expy's 44.5 kBtu/ft² across 89,120 sq ft works out to about 4 billion Btu (1,162 MWh-equivalent) in 2024. Its source EUI of 70.1 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 348,101 kWh of electricity, 27,789 therms of natural gas and 47,264 thousand gallons of water for the year.

Which law requires 2050 Southwest Expy to report its energy use?

2050 Southwest Expy 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:1138-0-00:2024). San José's BPO requires buildings over 20,000 sq ft to benchmark annually and complete beyond-benchmarking performance improvements on a rolling schedule.