3051 Colonial Way

How does 3051 Colonial Way 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. 3051 Colonial Way's ENERGY STAR score of 75 compares with an average of 86 across the 435 that report a score; it scores higher than 15% of them and lower than 83%. Its site EUI of 46.1 kBtu/ft² is about 31% above the average of 35.3 kBtu/ft² — it uses more energy per square foot than the typical building in that group.

At 28,510 sq ft, it is about 82% 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 3051 Colonial Way's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 6 San José disclosures for 3051 Colonial Way, covering report years 2019–2024. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 100 in 2020 to 75 in 2024 (-25 points); its best year on file was 2020, at 100. Site EUI moved from 28.5 kBtu/ft² (2020) to 46.1 kBtu/ft² (2024), an 62% increase. Reported emissions went from 42 tCO₂e to 75 tCO₂e over the same span (up 77%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 75 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 75 means the building performs better than about 75% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 75 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. 3051 Colonial Way's 46.1 kBtu/ft² across 28,510 sq ft works out to about 1.3 billion Btu (385 MWh-equivalent) in 2024. Its source EUI of 72.6 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 115,499 kWh of electricity, 9,195 therms of natural gas and 1,899 thousand gallons of water for the year.

Which law requires 3051 Colonial Way to report its energy use?

3051 Colonial Way 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:1100-0-00:2024). San José's BPO requires buildings over 20,000 sq ft to benchmark annually and complete beyond-benchmarking performance improvements on a rolling schedule.