Columbia Lutheran Home

How does Columbia Lutheran Home compare with other senior living community buildings in Seattle?

The latest disclosures cover 48 senior living community buildings in Seattle, out of 3,871 buildings citywide. Columbia Lutheran Home's ENERGY STAR score of 78 compares with an average of 72 across the 40 that report a score; it scores higher than 45% of them and lower than 50%. Its site EUI of 91.9 kBtu/ft² is about 38% above the average of 66.7 kBtu/ft² — it uses more energy per square foot than the typical building in that group. Its emissions intensity of 2.9 kgCO₂e/ft² is about 71% above the group average of 1.7 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 55,974 sq ft, it is about 59% below the average floor area of 136,458 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1961, 30 years earlier than the group's average year built (1991). Across all 24 jurisdictions BuildingCensus covers, the 1,181 senior living community buildings average an ENERGY STAR score of 71 and a site EUI of 73.6 kBtu/ft².

How has Columbia Lutheran Home's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 11 Seattle disclosures for Columbia Lutheran Home, covering report years 2015–2025. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 56 in 2015 to 78 in 2025 (+22 points); its best year on file was 2016, at 98. Site EUI moved from 106.2 kBtu/ft² (2015) to 91.9 kBtu/ft² (2025), a 13% decrease. Reported emissions went from 188 tCO₂e to 163 tCO₂e over the same span (down 13%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 78 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 78 means the building performs better than about 78% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 78 falls in band B — above median (70–84). 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 Lutheran Home's 91.9 kBtu/ft² across 55,974 sq ft works out to about 5.1 billion Btu (1,508 MWh-equivalent) in 2025. Its source EUI of 168.9 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 693,127 kWh of electricity and 28,851 therms of natural gas for the year.

Which law requires Columbia Lutheran Home to report its energy use?

Columbia Lutheran Home 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:26289:2025). 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.