Rhode Island Gardens

How does Rhode Island Gardens 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. Rhode Island Gardens's ENERGY STAR score of 66 compares with an average of 72 across the 1,618 that report a score; it scores higher than 33% of them and lower than 66%. Its site EUI of 38.8 kBtu/ft² is about 24% 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 77,160 sq ft, it is about 43% below the average floor area of 136,346 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1931, 34 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 Rhode Island Gardens's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 10 Washington, DC disclosures for Rhode Island Gardens, covering report years 2015–2024. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 57 in 2015 to 66 in 2024 (+9 points); its best year on file was 2017, at 100. Site EUI moved from 73.1 kBtu/ft² (2015) to 38.8 kBtu/ft² (2024), a 47% decrease. Reported emissions went from 386 tCO₂e to 229 tCO₂e over the same span (down 41%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 66 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 66 means the building performs better than about 66% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 66 falls in band C — below median (55–69). It sits 9 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. Rhode Island Gardens's 38.8 kBtu/ft² across 77,160 sq ft works out to about 3 billion Btu (877 MWh-equivalent) in 2024. Its source EUI of 86.5 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 591,728 kWh of electricity, 9,739 therms of natural gas and 3,577 thousand gallons of water for the year.

Which law requires Rhode Island Gardens to report its energy use?

Rhode Island Gardens 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:PM4380823:2024). 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.