3801 Blackford Ave

How does 3801 Blackford Ave 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. 3801 Blackford Ave's ENERGY STAR score of 50 compares with an average of 86 across the 435 that report a score; it scores higher than 6% of them and lower than 93%. Its site EUI of 64.8 kBtu/ft² is about 84% above the average of 35.3 kBtu/ft² — it uses more energy per square foot than the typical building in that group.

At 21,216 sq ft, it is about 87% below the average floor area of 157,540 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1980, 7 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 3801 Blackford Ave's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 6 San José disclosures for 3801 Blackford Ave, covering report years 2019–2024. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 24 in 2020 to 50 in 2024 (+26 points); its best year on file was 2022, at 62. Site EUI moved from 34.0 kBtu/ft² (2019) to 64.8 kBtu/ft² (2024), an 91% increase. Reported emissions went from 74 tCO₂e to 78 tCO₂e over the same span (up 4%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 50 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 50 means the building performs better than about 50% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 50 falls in band D — lowest band (1–54). It sits 25 points below 75, the threshold for ENERGY STAR certification. 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. 3801 Blackford Ave's 64.8 kBtu/ft² across 21,216 sq ft works out to about 1.4 billion Btu (403 MWh-equivalent) in 2024. Its source EUI of 96.2 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 100,106 kWh of electricity, 10,331 therms of natural gas and 1,306 thousand gallons of water for the year.

Which law requires 3801 Blackford Ave to report its energy use?

3801 Blackford 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:1208-0-00:2024). San José's BPO requires buildings over 20,000 sq ft to benchmark annually and complete beyond-benchmarking performance improvements on a rolling schedule.