601 M Street NW

How does 601 M Street NW compare with other worship facility buildings in Washington, DC?

The latest disclosures cover 88 worship facility buildings in Washington, DC, out of 6,870 buildings citywide. 601 M Street NW's ENERGY STAR score of 33 compares with an average of 43 across the 72 that report a score; it scores higher than 36% of them and lower than 57%. Its site EUI of 65.4 kBtu/ft² is about 26% above the average of 51.9 kBtu/ft² — it uses more energy per square foot than the typical building in that group. Its emissions intensity of 4.7 kgCO₂e/ft² is about 30% above the group average of 3.6 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 50,869 sq ft, it is roughly in line with the average floor area of 49,290 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1965, 31 years later than the group's average year built (1934). Across all 24 jurisdictions BuildingCensus covers, the 1,035 worship facility buildings average an ENERGY STAR score of 50 and a site EUI of 47.8 kBtu/ft².

How has 601 M Street NW's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 7 Washington, DC disclosures for 601 M Street NW, covering report years 2018–2024. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 18 in 2018 to 33 in 2024 (+15 points). Site EUI moved from 95.1 kBtu/ft² (2018) to 65.4 kBtu/ft² (2024), a 31% decrease. Reported emissions went from 381 tCO₂e to 239 tCO₂e over the same span (down 37%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 33 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 33 means the building performs better than about 33% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 33 falls in band D — lowest band (1–54). It sits 42 points below 75, the threshold for ENERGY STAR certification. 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. 601 M Street NW's 65.4 kBtu/ft² across 50,869 sq ft works out to about 3.3 billion Btu (975 MWh-equivalent) in 2024. Its source EUI of 149.0 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 684,499 kWh of electricity, 9,929 therms of natural gas and 322 thousand gallons of water for the year.

Which law requires 601 M Street NW to report its energy use?

601 M Street NW 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:PM20421857:2024). 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.