Columbia Center

How does Columbia Center compare with other office buildings in Seattle?

The latest disclosures cover 497 office buildings in Seattle, out of 3,871 buildings citywide. Columbia Center's ENERGY STAR score of 90 compares with an average of 76 across the 378 that report a score; it scores higher than 70% of them and lower than 27%. Its site EUI of 41.6 kBtu/ft² is roughly in line with 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 0.3 kgCO₂e/ft² is about 59% below the group average of 0.7 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 1,952,220 sq ft, it is about 894% above the average floor area of 196,452 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1985, 20 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 Columbia Center's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 11 Seattle disclosures for Columbia Center, covering report years 2015–2025. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 84 in 2015 to 90 in 2025 (+6 points); its best year on file was 2024, at 90. Site EUI moved from 56.3 kBtu/ft² (2015) to 41.6 kBtu/ft² (2025), a 26% decrease. Reported emissions went from 728 tCO₂e to 513 tCO₂e over the same span (down 29%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 90 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 90 means the building performs better than about 90% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 90 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. Columbia Center's 41.6 kBtu/ft² across 1,952,220 sq ft works out to about 81.2 billion Btu (23,801 MWh-equivalent) in 2025. Its source EUI of 114.7 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 20,918,270 kWh of electricity and 18,768 therms of natural gas for the year.

Which law requires Columbia Center to report its energy use?

Columbia Center 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:775:2025). 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.