250 Palm Valley Blvd

How does 250 Palm Valley Blvd 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. 250 Palm Valley Blvd's ENERGY STAR score of 97 compares with an average of 86 across the 435 that report a score; it scores higher than 60% of them and lower than 35%. Its site EUI of 32.0 kBtu/ft² is roughly in line with the average of 35.3 kBtu/ft² — it uses less energy per square foot than the typical building in that group.

At 298,160 sq ft, it is about 89% above the average floor area of 157,540 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 2001, 14 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 250 Palm Valley Blvd's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 7 San José disclosures for 250 Palm Valley Blvd, covering report years 2018–2024. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 74 in 2021 to 97 in 2024 (+23 points). Site EUI moved from 37.8 kBtu/ft² (2021) to 32.0 kBtu/ft² (2024), a 15% decrease. Reported emissions went from 581 tCO₂e to 559 tCO₂e over the same span (down 4%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 97 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 97 means the building performs better than about 97% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 97 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. 250 Palm Valley Blvd's 32.0 kBtu/ft² across 298,160 sq ft works out to about 9.5 billion Btu (2,796 MWh-equivalent) in 2024. Its source EUI of 56.3 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 1,132,018 kWh of electricity, 56,934 therms of natural gas and 13,401 thousand gallons of water for the year.

Which law requires 250 Palm Valley Blvd to report its energy use?

250 Palm Valley Blvd 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:2031-0-00:2024). San José's BPO requires buildings over 20,000 sq ft to benchmark annually and complete beyond-benchmarking performance improvements on a rolling schedule.