The Alta Condominium

How does The Alta Condominium 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. The Alta Condominium's ENERGY STAR score of 81 compares with an average of 72 across the 1,618 that report a score; it scores higher than 53% of them and lower than 46%. Its site EUI of 50.6 kBtu/ft² is roughly in line with 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 3.8 kgCO₂e/ft² is roughly in line with the group average of 3.8 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 123,207 sq ft, it is roughly in line with the average floor area of 136,346 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 2006, 41 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 The Alta Condominium's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 6 Washington, DC disclosures for The Alta Condominium, covering report years 2019–2024. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 76 in 2019 to 81 in 2024 (+5 points). Site EUI moved from 54.1 kBtu/ft² (2019) to 50.6 kBtu/ft² (2024), a 6% decrease. Reported emissions went from 533 tCO₂e to 464 tCO₂e over the same span (down 13%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 81 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 81 means the building performs better than about 81% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 81 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. The Alta Condominium's 50.6 kBtu/ft² across 123,207 sq ft works out to about 6.2 billion Btu (1,827 MWh-equivalent) in 2024. Its source EUI of 107.7 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 1,125,920 kWh of electricity, 23,899 therms of natural gas and 3,775 thousand gallons of water for the year.

Which law requires The Alta Condominium to report its energy use?

The Alta Condominium 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:PM7545160:2024). 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.