Palisades

How does Palisades 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. Palisades's ENERGY STAR score of 91 compares with an average of 72 across the 1,618 that report a score; it scores higher than 72% of them and lower than 26%. Its site EUI of 57.9 kBtu/ft² is about 13% 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 3.8 kgCO₂e/ft² is roughly in line with the group average of 3.8 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 37,438 sq ft, it is about 73% below the average floor area of 136,346 sq ft for those buildings. Its 1964 construction date is close to 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 Palisades's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 3 Washington, DC disclosures for Palisades, covering report years 2022–2024. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 94 in 2022 to 91 in 2024 (-3 points); its best year on file was 2022, at 94. Site EUI moved from 55.0 kBtu/ft² (2022) to 57.9 kBtu/ft² (2024), an 5% increase. Reported emissions went from 143 tCO₂e to 142 tCO₂e over the same span (down 1%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 91 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 91 means the building performs better than about 91% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 91 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. Palisades's 57.9 kBtu/ft² across 37,438 sq ft works out to about 2.2 billion Btu (635 MWh-equivalent) in 2024. Its source EUI of 107.5 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 292,656 kWh of electricity, 11,697 therms of natural gas and 1,280 thousand gallons of water for the year.

Which law requires Palisades to report its energy use?

Palisades 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:PM15706657:2024). 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.