255 N Market St

How does 255 N Market St compare with other office buildings in San José?

The latest disclosures cover 408 office buildings in San José, out of 1,790 buildings citywide. 255 N Market St's ENERGY STAR score of 94 compares with an average of 67 across the 283 that report a score; it scores higher than 82% of them and lower than 16%. Its site EUI of 24.8 kBtu/ft² is about 62% below the average of 64.9 kBtu/ft² — it uses less energy per square foot than the typical building in that group.

At 54,841 sq ft, it is about 43% below the average floor area of 95,555 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1946, 40 years earlier than the group's average year built (1986). Across all 24 jurisdictions BuildingCensus covers, the 15,264 office buildings average an ENERGY STAR score of 73 and a site EUI of 59.3 kBtu/ft².

How has 255 N Market St's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 7 San José disclosures for 255 N Market St, covering report years 2018–2024. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 93 in 2020 to 94 in 2024 (+1 points); its best year on file was 2023, at 94. Site EUI moved from 24.3 kBtu/ft² (2020) to 24.8 kBtu/ft² (2024), an 2% increase. Reported emissions went from 97 tCO₂e to 87 tCO₂e over the same span (down 10%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 94 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 94 means the building performs better than about 94% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 94 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. 255 N Market St's 24.8 kBtu/ft² across 54,841 sq ft works out to about 1.4 billion Btu (399 MWh-equivalent) in 2024. Its source EUI of 61.6 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 326,849 kWh of electricity, 2,425 therms of natural gas and 304 thousand gallons of water for the year.

Which law requires 255 N Market St to report its energy use?

255 N Market St 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:0896-0-00:2024). San José's BPO requires buildings over 20,000 sq ft to benchmark annually and complete beyond-benchmarking performance improvements on a rolling schedule.