Capital Plaza

How does Capital Plaza 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. Capital Plaza's ENERGY STAR score of 78 compares with an average of 72 across the 1,618 that report a score; it scores higher than 49% of them and lower than 50%. Its site EUI of 85.7 kBtu/ft² is about 68% above the average of 51.1 kBtu/ft² — it uses more energy per square foot than the typical building in that group. Its emissions intensity of 5.5 kgCO₂e/ft² is about 44% above the group average of 3.8 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 58,300 sq ft, it is about 57% below the average floor area of 136,346 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1949, 16 years earlier 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 Capital Plaza's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 12 Washington, DC disclosures for Capital Plaza, covering report years 2013–2024. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 60 in 2014 to 78 in 2024 (+18 points). Site EUI moved from 114.8 kBtu/ft² (2013) to 85.7 kBtu/ft² (2024), a 25% decrease. Reported emissions went from 487 tCO₂e to 319 tCO₂e over the same span (down 34%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 78 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 78 means the building performs better than about 78% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 78 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. Capital Plaza's 85.7 kBtu/ft² across 58,300 sq ft works out to about 5 billion Btu (1,464 MWh-equivalent) in 2024. Its source EUI of 136.6 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 455,085 kWh of electricity, 34,417 therms of natural gas and 3,069 thousand gallons of water for the year.

Which law requires Capital Plaza to report its energy use?

Capital Plaza 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:PM3636028:2024). 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.