Commons At Ballard

How does Commons At Ballard compare with other mixed use property buildings in Seattle?

The latest disclosures cover 157 mixed use property buildings in Seattle, out of 3,871 buildings citywide. Commons At Ballard's ENERGY STAR score of 96 compares with an average of 74 across the 29 that report a score; it scores higher than 79% of them and lower than 14%. Its site EUI of 32.4 kBtu/ft² is about half of the average of 68.7 kBtu/ft² — it uses less energy per square foot than the typical building in that group. Its emissions intensity of 0.4 kgCO₂e/ft² is about 73% below the group average of 1.4 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 178,578 sq ft, it is roughly in line with the average floor area of 165,352 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 2016, 48 years later than the group's average year built (1968). Across all 24 jurisdictions BuildingCensus covers, the 1,212 mixed use property buildings average an ENERGY STAR score of 69 and a site EUI of 79.8 kBtu/ft².

How has Commons At Ballard's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 10 Seattle disclosures for Commons At Ballard, covering report years 2016–2025. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 100 in 2017 to 96 in 2025 (-4 points); its best year on file was 2017, at 100. Site EUI moved from 9.5 kBtu/ft² (2017) to 32.4 kBtu/ft² (2025), an 241% increase. Reported emissions went from 52 tCO₂e to 47 tCO₂e over the same span (down 11%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 96 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 96 means the building performs better than about 96% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 96 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. Commons At Ballard's 32.4 kBtu/ft² across 178,578 sq ft works out to about 5.8 billion Btu (1,696 MWh-equivalent) in 2025. Its source EUI of 83.1 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 1,009,939 kWh of electricity and 5,352 therms of natural gas for the year.

Which law requires Commons At Ballard to report its energy use?

Commons At Ballard 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:50189:2025). 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.