446 Saratoga Ave

How does 446 Saratoga 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. 446 Saratoga Ave's ENERGY STAR score of 81 compares with an average of 86 across the 435 that report a score; it scores higher than 24% of them and lower than 75%. Its site EUI of 38.4 kBtu/ft² is roughly in line with the average of 35.3 kBtu/ft².

At 280,269 sq ft, it is about 78% above the average floor area of 157,540 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1971, 16 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 446 Saratoga Ave's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 7 San José disclosures for 446 Saratoga Ave, covering report years 2018–2024. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 79 in 2020 to 81 in 2024 (+2 points); its best year on file was 2021, at 89. Site EUI moved from 36.4 kBtu/ft² (2018) to 38.4 kBtu/ft² (2024), an 5% increase. Reported emissions went from 633 tCO₂e to 621 tCO₂e over the same span (down 2%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 81 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 81 means the building performs better than about 81% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 81 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. 446 Saratoga Ave's 38.4 kBtu/ft² across 280,269 sq ft works out to about 10.8 billion Btu (3,154 MWh-equivalent) in 2024. Its source EUI of 63.8 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 1,105,271 kWh of electricity, 69,846 therms of natural gas and 16,939 thousand gallons of water for the year.

Which law requires 446 Saratoga Ave to report its energy use?

446 Saratoga 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:1219-0-00:2024). San José's BPO requires buildings over 20,000 sq ft to benchmark annually and complete beyond-benchmarking performance improvements on a rolling schedule.