917 Thornton Way

How does 917 Thornton Way compare with other senior living community buildings in San José?

The latest disclosures cover 17 senior living community buildings in San José, out of 1,790 buildings citywide. 917 Thornton Way's ENERGY STAR score of 91 compares with an average of 89 across the 12 that report a score; it scores higher than 25% of them and lower than 67%. Its site EUI of 36.5 kBtu/ft² is about 43% below the average of 63.9 kBtu/ft² — it uses less energy per square foot than the typical building in that group.

At 80,394 sq ft, it is about 12% above the average floor area of 71,779 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 2000, 7 years later than the group's average year built (1993). Across all 24 jurisdictions BuildingCensus covers, the 1,181 senior living community buildings average an ENERGY STAR score of 71 and a site EUI of 73.6 kBtu/ft².

How has 917 Thornton Way's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 7 San José disclosures for 917 Thornton Way, covering report years 2018–2024. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 94 in 2022 to 91 in 2024 (-3 points); its best year on file was 2022, at 94. Site EUI moved from 34.0 kBtu/ft² (2022) to 36.5 kBtu/ft² (2024), an 7% increase. Reported emissions went from 170 tCO₂e to 176 tCO₂e over the same span (up 4%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 91 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 91 means the building performs better than about 91% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 91 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. 917 Thornton Way's 36.5 kBtu/ft² across 80,394 sq ft works out to about 2.9 billion Btu (860 MWh-equivalent) in 2024. Its source EUI of 71.8 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 451,026 kWh of electricity, 13,936 therms of natural gas and 1,779 thousand gallons of water for the year.

Which law requires 917 Thornton Way to report its energy use?

917 Thornton 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:1103-0-00:2024). San José's BPO requires buildings over 20,000 sq ft to benchmark annually and complete beyond-benchmarking performance improvements on a rolling schedule.