Berkshire 15 (bh20)

How does Berkshire 15 (bh20) compare with other multifamily housing buildings in Washington, DC?

The latest disclosures cover 1,799 multifamily housing buildings in Washington, DC, out of 6,870 buildings citywide. Berkshire 15 (bh20)'s ENERGY STAR score of 80 compares with an average of 72 across the 1,618 that report a score; it scores higher than 51% of them and lower than 47%. Its site EUI of 42.2 kBtu/ft² is about 17% below the average of 51.1 kBtu/ft² — it uses less energy per square foot than the typical building in that group. Its emissions intensity of 3.4 kgCO₂e/ft² is roughly in line with the group average of 3.8 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 83,634 sq ft, it is about 39% below the average floor area of 136,346 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 2016, 51 years later than the group's average year built (1965). Across all 24 jurisdictions BuildingCensus covers, the 59,945 multifamily housing buildings average an ENERGY STAR score of 70 and a site EUI of 59.0 kBtu/ft².

How has Berkshire 15 (bh20)'s energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 8 Washington, DC disclosures for Berkshire 15 (bh20), covering report years 2017–2024. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 92 in 2017 to 80 in 2024 (-12 points); its best year on file was 2017, at 92. Site EUI moved from 38.1 kBtu/ft² (2017) to 42.2 kBtu/ft² (2024), an 11% increase. Reported emissions went from 294 tCO₂e to 287 tCO₂e over the same span (down 2%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 80 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 80 means the building performs better than about 80% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 80 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. Berkshire 15 (bh20)'s 42.2 kBtu/ft² across 83,634 sq ft works out to about 3.5 billion Btu (1,034 MWh-equivalent) in 2024. Its source EUI of 104.5 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 843,165 kWh of electricity, 6,505 therms of natural gas and 178,090 thousand gallons of water for the year.

Which law requires Berkshire 15 (bh20) to report its energy use?

Berkshire 15 (bh20) 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:PM5777992:2024). 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.