Potomac Plaza Terrace, Inc.- WHOLE BUILDING

How does Potomac Plaza Terrace, Inc.- WHOLE BUILDING 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. Potomac Plaza Terrace, Inc.- WHOLE BUILDING's ENERGY STAR score of 79 compares with an average of 72 across the 1,618 that report a score; it scores higher than 50% of them and lower than 49%. Its site EUI of 58.5 kBtu/ft² is about 14% 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 3.7 kgCO₂e/ft² is roughly in line with the group average of 3.8 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 155,632 sq ft, it is about 14% above the average floor area of 136,346 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1961, 4 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 Potomac Plaza Terrace, Inc.- WHOLE BUILDING's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 13 Washington, DC disclosures for Potomac Plaza Terrace, Inc.- WHOLE BUILDING, covering report years 2012–2024. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 100 in 2014 to 79 in 2024 (-21 points); its best year on file was 2014, at 100. Site EUI moved from 21.7 kBtu/ft² (2013) to 58.5 kBtu/ft² (2024), an 170% increase. Reported emissions went from 558 tCO₂e to 580 tCO₂e over the same span (up 4%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 79 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 79 means the building performs better than about 79% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 79 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. Potomac Plaza Terrace, Inc.- WHOLE BUILDING's 58.5 kBtu/ft² across 155,632 sq ft works out to about 9.1 billion Btu (2,668 MWh-equivalent) in 2024. Its source EUI of 102.2 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 1,063,653 kWh of electricity, 54,710 therms of natural gas and 5,213 thousand gallons of water for the year.

Which law requires Potomac Plaza Terrace, Inc.- WHOLE BUILDING to report its energy use?

Potomac Plaza Terrace, Inc.- WHOLE BUILDING 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:PM3509928:2024). 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.