Centurylink: Seattle Bell Plaza

How does Centurylink: Seattle Bell Plaza compare with other office buildings in Seattle?

The latest disclosures cover 497 office buildings in Seattle, out of 3,871 buildings citywide. Centurylink: Seattle Bell Plaza's ENERGY STAR score of 91 compares with an average of 76 across the 378 that report a score; it scores higher than 73% of them and lower than 24%. Its site EUI of 38.4 kBtu/ft² is about 14% below the average of 44.8 kBtu/ft² — it uses less energy per square foot than the typical building in that group. Its emissions intensity of 0.8 kgCO₂e/ft² is roughly in line with the group average of 0.7 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 791,396 sq ft, it is about 303% above the average floor area of 196,452 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1976, 11 years later than the group's average year built (1965). 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 Centurylink: Seattle Bell Plaza's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 11 Seattle disclosures for Centurylink: Seattle Bell Plaza, covering report years 2015–2025. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 89 in 2015 to 91 in 2025 (+2 points); its best year on file was 2020, at 95. Site EUI moved from 59.8 kBtu/ft² (2015) to 38.4 kBtu/ft² (2025), a 36% decrease. Reported emissions went from 235 tCO₂e to 596 tCO₂e over the same span (up 154%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 91 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 91 means the building performs better than about 91% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 91 falls in band A — high performer (85–100). 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 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. Centurylink: Seattle Bell Plaza's 38.4 kBtu/ft² across 791,396 sq ft works out to about 30.4 billion Btu (8,906 MWh-equivalent) in 2025. Its source EUI of 87.2 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 6,194,953 kWh of electricity and 90,856 therms of natural gas for the year.

Which law requires Centurylink: Seattle Bell Plaza to report its energy use?

Centurylink: Seattle Bell Plaza 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:328:2025). 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.