Emerson House on the Park

How does Emerson House on the Park 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. Emerson House on the Park's ENERGY STAR score of 94 compares with an average of 72 across the 1,618 that report a score; it scores higher than 78% of them and lower than 18%. Its site EUI of 39.2 kBtu/ft² is about 23% 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 3.0 kgCO₂e/ft² is about 22% below the group average of 3.8 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 116,778 sq ft, it is about 14% below the average floor area of 136,346 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1991, 26 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 Emerson House on the Park's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 7 Washington, DC disclosures for Emerson House on the Park, covering report years 2018–2024. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 28 in 2018 to 94 in 2024 (+66 points). Site EUI moved from 73.6 kBtu/ft² (2018) to 39.2 kBtu/ft² (2024), a 47% decrease. Reported emissions went from 522 tCO₂e to 348 tCO₂e over the same span (down 33%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 94 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 94 means the building performs better than about 94% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 94 falls in band A — high performer (85–100). 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. Emerson House on the Park's 39.2 kBtu/ft² across 116,778 sq ft works out to about 4.6 billion Btu (1,342 MWh-equivalent) in 2024. Its source EUI of 86.7 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 890,083 kWh of electricity, 15,385 therms of natural gas and 3,039 thousand gallons of water for the year.

Which law requires Emerson House on the Park to report its energy use?

Emerson House on the Park 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:PM14845487:2024). 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.