1615 L Street

How does 1615 L Street compare with other office buildings in Washington, DC?

The latest disclosures cover 899 office buildings in Washington, DC, out of 6,870 buildings citywide. 1615 L Street's ENERGY STAR score of 87 compares with an average of 70 across the 774 that report a score; it scores higher than 83% of them and lower than 15%. Its site EUI of 34.7 kBtu/ft² is about 38% below the average of 55.6 kBtu/ft² — it uses less energy per square foot than the typical building in that group. Its emissions intensity of 3.1 kgCO₂e/ft² is about 38% below the group average of 5.0 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 497,894 sq ft, it is about 130% above the average floor area of 216,135 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1984, 10 years later than the group's average year built (1974). Across all 24 jurisdictions BuildingCensus covers, the 15,264 office buildings average an ENERGY STAR score of 73 and a site EUI of 59.3 kBtu/ft².

How has 1615 L Street's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 12 Washington, DC disclosures for 1615 L Street, covering report years 2012–2023. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 77 in 2012 to 87 in 2023 (+10 points); its best year on file was 2020, at 88. Site EUI moved from 58.7 kBtu/ft² (2012) to 34.7 kBtu/ft² (2023), a 41% decrease. Reported emissions went from 3,491 tCO₂e to 1,554 tCO₂e over the same span (down 55%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 87 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 87 means the building performs better than about 87% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 87 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 Washington, DC, 47% 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. 1615 L Street's 34.7 kBtu/ft² across 497,894 sq ft works out to about 17.3 billion Btu (5,063 MWh-equivalent) in 2023. Its source EUI of 97.2 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 5,067,094 kWh of electricity, 0 therms of natural gas and 3,501 thousand gallons of water for the year.

Which law requires 1615 L Street to report its energy use?

1615 L Street reports under the Clean and Affordable Energy Act / BEPS, the legal basis of Washington, DC's Building Energy Benchmarking program, which publishes each covered building's annual benchmarking results. The record shown here is the report-year 2023 disclosure (source record dc:PM3229646:2023). DC's Building Energy Performance Standards (BEPS) require buildings below the performance standard to improve over compliance cycles (the first ends December 31, 2026; later cycles run five years), with penalties for buildings that fail to meet their pathway.