District of Columbia: Energy performance

Better Buildings Challenge partners strive to report whole building data for all properties within their portfolio. Community partners work with building owners in their communities to develop local programs for reporting on energy data. In an innovative community partnership, the Government of the District of Columbia and the Downtown DC Business Improvement District have committed over 16 million square feet of local government properties and 54 million square feet of privately-owned properties to the Better Buildings Challenge. The table at right shows the current breakdown of committed square footage. 

Better Buildings Challenge Partners strive to decrease portfolio-wide source energy use intensity (EUI) and to increase the percent improvement compared to a set baseline. DC's portfolio consists of more than 300 buildings and 60 million square feet. *Since 2012, DC has improved energy performance by an average of 6% each year.  This is equivalent to a cumulative improvement of 36%, accounting for the varying lengths of time properties were included in DC’s portfolio. Energy consumption during 2020 was significantly lower than a typical year since COVID-19 disruptions resulted in temporary building closures and reduced occupancy for much of the year.

Looking at the percent improvement in energy performance across all properties can provide insight into how an organization is saving energy. The District of Columbia has achieved energy performance improvement of greater than 15% at more than 101 of its properties. There are 82 properties that have experienced an increase in Source EUI. These properties have been targeted for future energy efficiency improvements.

Property-level energy performance metrics, including EUI and percent improvement to date, are critical to track progress over time and identify opportunities for additional energy savings. The District of Columbia's portfolio consists of properties with a wide range of baseline EUI values, most of which are from 100 to 300 kBtu/sq. ft. The majority of properties have shown energy improvement since 2012. The properties located near or below the 0% axis may present good opportunities for further savings.