500 Saratoga Ave

How does 500 Saratoga Ave compare with other K-12 school buildings in San José?

The latest disclosures cover 14 K-12 school buildings in San José, out of 1,790 buildings citywide. 500 Saratoga Ave's ENERGY STAR score of 77 compares with an average of 58 across the 14 that report a score; it scores higher than 57% of them and lower than 36%. Its site EUI of 43.6 kBtu/ft² is roughly in line with the average of 45.6 kBtu/ft² — it uses less energy per square foot than the typical building in that group.

At 253,453 sq ft, it is about 134% above the average floor area of 108,309 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1959, 30 years earlier than the group's average year built (1989). Across all 24 jurisdictions BuildingCensus covers, the 6,548 K-12 school buildings average an ENERGY STAR score of 64 and a site EUI of 52.7 kBtu/ft².

How has 500 Saratoga Ave's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 7 San José disclosures for 500 Saratoga Ave, covering report years 2018–2024. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 83 in 2021 to 77 in 2024 (-6 points); its best year on file was 2021, at 83. Site EUI moved from 40.6 kBtu/ft² (2021) to 43.6 kBtu/ft² (2024), an 7% increase. Reported emissions went from 715 tCO₂e to 664 tCO₂e over the same span (down 7%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 77 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 77 means the building performs better than about 77% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 77 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. 500 Saratoga Ave's 43.6 kBtu/ft² across 253,453 sq ft works out to about 11.1 billion Btu (3,239 MWh-equivalent) in 2024. Its source EUI of 86.2 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 1,717,014 kWh of electricity, 51,834 therms of natural gas and 4,422 thousand gallons of water for the year.

Which law requires 500 Saratoga Ave to report its energy use?

500 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:1219-1-00:2024). San José's BPO requires buildings over 20,000 sq ft to benchmark annually and complete beyond-benchmarking performance improvements on a rolling schedule.