601 Pennsylvania Avenue

How does 601 Pennsylvania 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. 601 Pennsylvania Avenue's ENERGY STAR score of 84 compares with an average of 70 across the 774 that report a score; it scores higher than 75% of them and lower than 23%. Its site EUI of 37.2 kBtu/ft² is about 33% 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 3.3 kgCO₂e/ft² is about 35% below the group average of 5.0 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 244,003 sq ft, it is about 13% 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 601 Pennsylvania Avenue's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 13 Washington, DC disclosures for 601 Pennsylvania Avenue, covering report years 2012–2024. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 79 in 2012 to 84 in 2024 (+5 points). Site EUI moved from 66.3 kBtu/ft² (2012) to 37.2 kBtu/ft² (2024), a 44% decrease. Reported emissions went from 2,353 tCO₂e to 797 tCO₂e over the same span (down 66%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 84 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 84 means the building performs better than about 84% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 84 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. 601 Pennsylvania Avenue's 37.2 kBtu/ft² across 244,003 sq ft works out to about 9.1 billion Btu (2,660 MWh-equivalent) in 2024. Its source EUI of 104.3 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 2,663,170 kWh of electricity, 0 therms of natural gas and 4,827 thousand gallons of water for the year.

Which law requires 601 Pennsylvania Avenue to report its energy use?

601 Pennsylvania 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:PM2222721:2024). 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.