Penn Quarter Project PQCE

How does Penn Quarter Project PQCE 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. Penn Quarter Project PQCE's ENERGY STAR score of 73 compares with an average of 72 across the 1,618 that report a score; it scores higher than 41% of them and lower than 58%. Its site EUI of 40.3 kBtu/ft² is about 21% 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 21% below the group average of 3.8 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 595,439 sq ft, it is about 337% above the average floor area of 136,346 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 2004, 39 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 Penn Quarter Project PQCE's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 13 Washington, DC disclosures for Penn Quarter Project PQCE, covering report years 2012–2024. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 31 in 2018 to 73 in 2024 (+42 points). Site EUI moved from 27.6 kBtu/ft² (2013) to 40.3 kBtu/ft² (2024), an 46% increase. Reported emissions went from 2,145 tCO₂e to 1,795 tCO₂e over the same span (down 16%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 73 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 73 means the building performs better than about 73% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 73 falls in band B — above median (70–84). It sits 2 points below 75, the threshold for ENERGY STAR certification. 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. Penn Quarter Project PQCE's 40.3 kBtu/ft² across 595,439 sq ft works out to about 24 billion Btu (7,033 MWh-equivalent) in 2024. Its source EUI of 100.0 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 5,750,075 kWh of electricity, 43,727 therms of natural gas and 23,528 thousand gallons of water for the year.

Which law requires Penn Quarter Project PQCE to report its energy use?

Penn Quarter Project PQCE 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:PM3859338:2024). 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.