Boston Buildings Inventory

The Boston Archive

Dataset

Boston Buildings Inventory

This dataset pulls from many different data sources to identify individual building characteristics of all buildings in Boston. It also identifies high-potential retrofit options to reduce carbon emissions in multifamily buildings, using the best available data and assumptions from building…

Dataset

Publisher: Environment Department
Spatial coverage: all
Fields: 107
Keywords: building inventory, carbon emissions, environment, retrofit, sustainability
Publisher's page: https://data.boston.gov/dataset/boston-buildings-inventory

Artifacts

“Preserved” means the archive holds the bytes and their digest. “Referenced” means it holds the record of them and nothing more. The archive does not claim a holding it cannot prove.

Format	Preservation	Size	Digest	Source
CSV	referenced	47663162	`2624de61b83bf2b7454039785b77f38bfdb94a5ff65d3670c3ddbe1cf9773250`	source
CSV	referenced	17176	`56144c17c2875ef3d5c0d873bbe3f564959fe82878f48df6bccdd65205a657c8`	source
CSV	referenced	15969	`657f83cb4b750e53d46336591db587005710f37c08817b1ad095dbf6400d3201`	source
CSV	referenced	2868	`—`	source
PDF	referenced	4952544	`—`	source
XLSX	referenced	90559	`—`	source

Column dictionary

The publisher's own dictionary, preserved verbatim. The archive does not reword a schema into its own vocabulary — how the publisher named a column is evidence about the publisher.

Column	Type	Description
`id`	text
`pid_long`	text
`cm_id`	text
`building_typology`	text
`building_subtypology`	text
`use_class`	text
`sqft_class`	text
`year_built_class`	text
`st_num`	text
`st_name`	text
`st_name_suf`	text
`unit_num`	text
`zipcode`	text
`yr_built`	text
`land_sf`	text
`gross_area`	text
`living_area`	text
`sqft`	text
`num_floors`	text
`num_bldgs`	text
`units_res`	text
`units_com`	text
`units_mixed`	text
`ptype`	text
`ptype_list`	text
`lu`	text
`lu_list`	text
`assessor_category`	text
`assessor_description`	text
`own_occ`	text
`own_occ_list`	text
`owner_list`	text
`structure_class`	text
`structure_class_list`	text
`bldg_styl`	text
`bldg_styl_list`	text
`r_roof_typ`	text
`ext_fin`	text
`ext_fin_list`	text
`ext_cond_list`	text
`insulation_type`	text
`foundation_type`	text
`heat_typ`	text
`heat_typ_list`	text
`heating_system_fuel`	text
`ac`	text
`ac_list`	text
`ac_system_type`	text
`hot_water_system_fuel`	text
`electric_panel_info`	text
`has_pv`	text
`existing_ashp`	text
`existing_gshp`	text
`existing_shw`	text
`historic_district`	text
`landmark`	text
`flood`	text
`stormwater`	text
`last_major_renovation_date`	text
`total_site_energy_kbtu`	text
`perc_electricity`	text
`perc_gas`	text
`perc_steam`	text
`onsite_renewable_kwh`	text
`census_tract_number`	text
`ct_pop_disability`	text
`ct_pop_children_under_5`	text
`ct_pop_over_65`	text
`ct_pop_low_to_no_income`	text
`ct_pop_limited_english_proficiency`	text
`ct_pop_poc`	text
`ct_pop_med_illness`	text
`ct_perc_disability`	text
`ct_perc_children_under_5`	text
`ct_perc_over_65`	text
`ct_perc_low_to_no_income`	text
`ct_perc_limited_english_proficiency`	text
`ct_perc_poc`	text
`ct_perc_med_illness`	text
`ct_hh_income_200000_or_more`	text
`ct_perc_income_200000_or_more`	text
`cashp_only`	text
`cashp_and_elec_upgrade`	text
`cashp_outdoor`	text
`dashp_only`	text
`dashp_and_elec_upgrade`	text
`dashp_outdoor`	text
`gshp_only`	text
`gshp_and_elec_upgrade`	text
`vrf_only`	text
`vrf_and_elec_upgrade`	text
`awhp_only`	text
`awhp_and_elec_upgrade`	text
`hp_recommendation_count`	text
`insulate_attic`	text
`insulate_attic_converted`	text
`ext_roof_insulation`	text
`insulate_exposed_ducts`	text
`insulate_exposed_pipes`	text
`interior_wall_insulation_blow_in`	text
`exterior_wall_insulation_at_replacement`	text
`exterior_wall_insulation`	text
`interior_wall_insulation_board`	text
`insulate_spandrel`	text
`asbestos`	text
`seal_elevator_vent_shafts`	text
`env_recommendation_count`	text

Identity

Identifier: urn:lemay:boston:dataset:boston-buildings-inventory
Canonical URL: https://boston.fyi/dataset/boston-buildings-inventory
As JSON: https://boston.fyi/dataset/boston-buildings-inventory.json
Version: 1 · last changed 2 September 2026

Provenance

Source: City of Boston Open Data Portal (Analyze Boston) — source of record
Licence: Open Data Commons Public Domain Dedication and Licence (PDDL) 1.0 (public_domain)
Retrieved: 2 September 2026
Source identifier: boston-buildings-inventory
Attribution: City of Boston
Rights as stated: Open Data Commons Public Domain Dedication and License (PDDL)

Transform ladder

#	Operation	Description	Tool
1	`fetch`	retrieved the dataset's metadata record from the CKAN package_show endpoint	`archive-ingest 0.1.0`
2	`normalize`	mapped the portal's catalogue fields onto the archive's Dataset record; the publisher's own wording and column dictionary are preserved verbatim	`archive-ingest 0.1.0`