740 15th Street NW

How does 740 15th Street NW compare with other office buildings in Washington, DC?

The latest disclosures cover 899 office buildings in Washington, DC, out of 6,870 buildings citywide. 740 15th Street NW's ENERGY STAR score of 48 compares with an average of 70 across the 774 that report a score; it scores higher than 14% of them and lower than 85%. Its site EUI of 83.3 kBtu/ft² is about 50% above the average of 55.6 kBtu/ft² — it uses more energy per square foot than the typical building in that group. Its emissions intensity of 6.5 kgCO₂e/ft² is about 30% above the group average of 5.0 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 187,215 sq ft, it is about 13% below the average floor area of 216,135 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1907, 67 years earlier 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 740 15th Street NW's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 7 Washington, DC disclosures for 740 15th Street NW, covering report years 2018–2024. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 50 in 2018 to 48 in 2024 (-2 points); its best year on file was 2018, at 50. Site EUI moved from 94.3 kBtu/ft² (2018) to 83.3 kBtu/ft² (2024), a 12% decrease. Reported emissions went from 1,490 tCO₂e to 1,217 tCO₂e over the same span (down 18%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 48 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 48 means the building performs better than about 48% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 48 falls in band D — lowest band (1–54). It sits 27 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. 740 15th Street NW's 83.3 kBtu/ft² across 187,215 sq ft works out to about 15.6 billion Btu (4,570 MWh-equivalent) in 2024. Its source EUI of 192.4 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 3,292,753 kWh of electricity, 43,539 therms of natural gas and 7,704 thousand gallons of water for the year.

Which law requires 740 15th Street NW to report its energy use?

740 15th 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:PM6771738:2024). 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.