400 Virginia Avenue

How does 400 Virginia Avenue compare with other office buildings in Washington, DC?

The latest disclosures cover 899 office buildings in Washington, DC, out of 6,870 buildings citywide. 400 Virginia Avenue's ENERGY STAR score of 77 compares with an average of 70 across the 774 that report a score; it scores higher than 53% of them and lower than 44%. Its site EUI of 35.4 kBtu/ft² is about 36% 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 252,289 sq ft, it is about 17% 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 400 Virginia Avenue's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 13 Washington, DC disclosures for 400 Virginia Avenue, covering report years 2012–2024. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 94 in 2012 to 77 in 2024 (-17 points); its best year on file was 2012, at 94. Site EUI moved from 44.5 kBtu/ft² (2012) to 35.4 kBtu/ft² (2024), a 20% decrease. Reported emissions went from 1,589 tCO₂e to 783 tCO₂e over the same span (down 51%).

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 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. 400 Virginia Avenue's 35.4 kBtu/ft² across 252,289 sq ft works out to about 8.9 billion Btu (2,617 MWh-equivalent) in 2024. Its source EUI of 99.0 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 2,615,195 kWh of electricity, 0 therms of natural gas and 2,885 thousand gallons of water for the year.

Which law requires 400 Virginia Avenue to report its energy use?

400 Virginia Avenue 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 2024 disclosure (source record dc:PM1184444:2024). 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.