Chinese Baptist Church

How does Chinese Baptist Church compare with other worship facility buildings in Seattle?

The latest disclosures cover 67 worship facility buildings in Seattle, out of 3,871 buildings citywide. Chinese Baptist Church's ENERGY STAR score of 32 compares with an average of 50 across the 52 that report a score; it scores higher than 25% of them and lower than 71%. Its site EUI of 40.5 kBtu/ft² is roughly in line with the average of 38.1 kBtu/ft². Its emissions intensity of 1.5 kgCO₂e/ft² is roughly in line with the group average of 1.4 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 21,948 sq ft, it is about 33% below the average floor area of 32,782 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1977, 29 years later than the group's average year built (1948). Across all 24 jurisdictions BuildingCensus covers, the 1,035 worship facility buildings average an ENERGY STAR score of 50 and a site EUI of 47.8 kBtu/ft².

How has Chinese Baptist Church's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 11 Seattle disclosures for Chinese Baptist Church, covering report years 2015–2025. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 54 in 2015 to 32 in 2025 (-22 points); its best year on file was 2017, at 86. Site EUI moved from 14.5 kBtu/ft² (2015) to 40.5 kBtu/ft² (2025), an 179% increase. Reported emissions went from 2 tCO₂e to 32 tCO₂e over the same span (up 1675%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 32 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 32 means the building performs better than about 32% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 32 falls in band D — lowest band (1–54). It sits 43 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. Chinese Baptist Church's 40.5 kBtu/ft² across 21,948 sq ft works out to about 0.9 billion Btu (261 MWh-equivalent) in 2025. Its source EUI of 66.7 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 88,682 kWh of electricity and 5,874 therms of natural gas for the year.

Which law requires Chinese Baptist Church to report its energy use?

Chinese Baptist Church 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:21611:2025). 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.