820 First Street NE

How does 820 First Street NE compare with other office buildings in Washington, DC?

The latest disclosures cover 899 office buildings in Washington, DC, out of 6,870 buildings citywide. 820 First Street NE'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 97.8 kBtu/ft² is about 76% 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 8.6 kgCO₂e/ft² is about 72% above the group average of 5.0 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 306,104 sq ft, it is about 42% above the average floor area of 216,135 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1990, 16 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 820 First Street NE's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 11 Washington, DC disclosures for 820 First Street NE, covering report years 2014–2024. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 91 in 2014 to 77 in 2024 (-14 points); its best year on file was 2014, at 91. Site EUI moved from 92.2 kBtu/ft² (2014) to 97.8 kBtu/ft² (2024), an 6% increase. Reported emissions went from 3,684 tCO₂e to 2,627 tCO₂e over the same span (down 29%).

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. 820 First Street NE's 97.8 kBtu/ft² across 306,104 sq ft works out to about 29.9 billion Btu (8,774 MWh-equivalent) in 2024. Its source EUI of 273.8 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 8,773,105 kWh of electricity, 0 therms of natural gas and 7,455 thousand gallons of water for the year.

Which law requires 820 First Street NE to report its energy use?

820 First Street NE 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:PM3323633:2024). 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.