Fifth Avenue Medical Center

How does Fifth Avenue Medical Center compare with other medical office buildings in Seattle?

The latest disclosures cover 45 medical office buildings in Seattle, out of 3,871 buildings citywide. Fifth Avenue Medical Center's ENERGY STAR score of 97 compares with an average of 60 across the 32 that report a score; it scores higher than 91% of them and lower than 6%. Its site EUI of 23.2 kBtu/ft² is about 74% below the average of 88.3 kBtu/ft² — it uses less energy per square foot than the typical building in that group. Its emissions intensity of 0.1 kgCO₂e/ft² is about 91% below the group average of 1.5 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 28,841 sq ft, it is about 80% below the average floor area of 145,612 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1988, 9 years later than the group's average year built (1979). Across all 24 jurisdictions BuildingCensus covers, the 1,266 medical office buildings average an ENERGY STAR score of 64 and a site EUI of 92.2 kBtu/ft².

How has Fifth Avenue Medical Center's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 11 Seattle disclosures for Fifth Avenue Medical Center, covering report years 2015–2025. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 61 in 2015 to 97 in 2025 (+36 points); its best year on file was 2024, at 98. Site EUI moved from 46.3 kBtu/ft² (2015) to 23.2 kBtu/ft² (2025), a 50% decrease. Reported emissions went from 27 tCO₂e to 4 tCO₂e over the same span (down 85%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 97 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 97 means the building performs better than about 97% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 97 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. Fifth Avenue Medical Center's 23.2 kBtu/ft² across 28,841 sq ft works out to about 0.7 billion Btu (196 MWh-equivalent) in 2025. Its source EUI of 65.0 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 196,225 kWh of electricity for the year.

Which law requires Fifth Avenue Medical Center to report its energy use?

Fifth Avenue Medical 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:23017:2025). 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.