820 South Adams Building

How does 820 South Adams Building compare with other refrigerated warehouse buildings in Seattle?

The latest disclosures cover 13 refrigerated warehouse buildings in Seattle, out of 3,871 buildings citywide. 820 South Adams Building's ENERGY STAR score of 49 compares with an average of 43 across the 8 that report a score; it scores higher than 38% of them and lower than 50%. Its site EUI of 38.8 kBtu/ft² is about half of the average of 70.8 kBtu/ft² — it uses less energy per square foot than the typical building in that group. Its emissions intensity of 1.6 kgCO₂e/ft² is about twice the group average of 0.8 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 25,520 sq ft, it is about 69% below the average floor area of 82,021 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1957, 4 years later than the group's average year built (1953). Across all 24 jurisdictions BuildingCensus covers, the 472 refrigerated warehouse buildings average an ENERGY STAR score of 52 and a site EUI of 76.3 kBtu/ft².

How has 820 South Adams Building's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 11 Seattle disclosures for 820 South Adams Building, covering report years 2015–2025. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 100 in 2015 to 49 in 2025 (-51 points); its best year on file was 2015, at 100. Site EUI moved from 40.7 kBtu/ft² (2015) to 38.8 kBtu/ft² (2025), a 5% decrease. Reported emissions went from 30 tCO₂e to 41 tCO₂e over the same span (up 35%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 49 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 49 means the building performs better than about 49% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 49 falls in band D — lowest band (1–54). It sits 26 points below 75, the threshold for ENERGY STAR certification. In Seattle, 69% 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. 820 South Adams Building's 38.8 kBtu/ft² across 25,520 sq ft works out to about 1 billion Btu (290 MWh-equivalent) in 2025. Its source EUI of 57.0 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 69,528 kWh of electricity and 7,522 therms of natural gas for the year.

Which law requires 820 South Adams Building to report its energy use?

820 South Adams Building reports under the Seattle Energy Benchmarking Ordinance (SMC 22.920), the legal basis of Seattle's Building Energy Benchmarking program, which publishes each covered building's annual benchmarking results. The record shown here is the report-year 2025 disclosure (source record seattle:24132:2025). Seattle's Building Emissions Performance Standard (adopted 2023) applies to buildings over 20,000 sq ft: benchmarking verification is due 2027–2030 and initial emissions targets 2031–2035, reaching net zero by 2041–2050, with fines for non-compliance.