The Caravel

How does The Caravel compare with other office buildings in Washington, DC?

The latest disclosures cover 899 office buildings in Washington, DC, out of 6,870 buildings citywide. The Caravel's ENERGY STAR score of 78 compares with an average of 70 across the 774 that report a score; it scores higher than 56% of them and lower than 41%. Its site EUI of 40.3 kBtu/ft² is about 28% below the average of 55.6 kBtu/ft² — it uses less energy per square foot than the typical building in that group. Its emissions intensity of 2.9 kgCO₂e/ft² is about 42% below the group average of 5.0 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 51,565 sq ft, it is about 76% below the average floor area of 216,135 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1971, 3 years earlier than the group's average year built (1974). Across all 24 jurisdictions BuildingCensus covers, the 15,264 office buildings average an ENERGY STAR score of 73 and a site EUI of 59.3 kBtu/ft².

How has The Caravel's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 12 Washington, DC disclosures for The Caravel, covering report years 2013–2024. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 70 in 2013 to 78 in 2024 (+8 points); its best year on file was 2017, at 88. Site EUI moved from 60.7 kBtu/ft² (2013) to 40.3 kBtu/ft² (2024), a 34% decrease. Reported emissions went from 335 tCO₂e to 149 tCO₂e over the same span (down 56%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 78 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 78 means the building performs better than about 78% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 78 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 Caravel's 40.3 kBtu/ft² across 51,565 sq ft works out to about 2.1 billion Btu (609 MWh-equivalent) in 2024. Its source EUI of 91.1 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 421,095 kWh of electricity, 6,425 therms of natural gas and 414 thousand gallons of water for the year.

Which law requires The Caravel to report its energy use?

The Caravel 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:PM4352773:2024). 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.