California Place

How does California Place compare with other multifamily housing buildings in Seattle?

The latest disclosures cover 1,971 multifamily housing buildings in Seattle, out of 3,871 buildings citywide. California Place's ENERGY STAR score of 60 compares with an average of 83 across the 1,652 that report a score; it scores higher than 12% of them and lower than 87%. Its site EUI of 29.9 kBtu/ft² is about 14% below the average of 34.9 kBtu/ft² — it uses less energy per square foot than the typical building in that group. Its emissions intensity of 0.2 kgCO₂e/ft² is about 76% below the group average of 0.7 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 33,084 sq ft, it is about 62% below the average floor area of 86,468 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1990, 7 years later than the group's average year built (1983). 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 California Place's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 11 Seattle disclosures for California Place, covering report years 2015–2025. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 29 in 2015 to 60 in 2025 (+31 points). Site EUI moved from 34.9 kBtu/ft² (2015) to 29.9 kBtu/ft² (2025), a 14% decrease. Reported emissions went from 7 tCO₂e to 6 tCO₂e over the same span (down 15%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 60 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 60 means the building performs better than about 60% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 60 falls in band C — below median (55–69). It sits 15 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. California Place's 29.9 kBtu/ft² across 33,084 sq ft works out to about 1 billion Btu (290 MWh-equivalent) in 2025. Its source EUI of 83.7 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 289,763 kWh of electricity for the year.

Which law requires California Place to report its energy use?

California Place 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:24607:2025). 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.