Garden Court Apts

How does Garden Court Apts compare with other multifamily housing buildings in Seattle?

The latest disclosures cover 1,971 multifamily housing buildings in Seattle, out of 3,871 buildings citywide. Garden Court Apts's ENERGY STAR score of 58 compares with an average of 83 across the 1,652 that report a score; it scores higher than 12% of them and lower than 88%. Its site EUI of 34.9 kBtu/ft² is roughly in line with the average of 34.9 kBtu/ft². Its emissions intensity of 0.2 kgCO₂e/ft² is about 74% below the group average of 0.7 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 43,752 sq ft, it is about half of the average floor area of 86,468 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1961, 22 years earlier than the group's average year built (1983). Across all 24 jurisdictions BuildingCensus covers, the 59,945 multifamily housing buildings average an ENERGY STAR score of 70 and a site EUI of 59.0 kBtu/ft².

How has Garden Court Apts's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 11 Seattle disclosures for Garden Court Apts, covering report years 2015–2025. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 33 in 2015 to 58 in 2025 (+25 points). Site EUI moved from 33.9 kBtu/ft² (2015) to 34.9 kBtu/ft² (2025), an 3% increase. Reported emissions went from 9 tCO₂e to 8 tCO₂e over the same span (down 10%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 58 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 58 means the building performs better than about 58% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 58 falls in band C — below median (55–69). It sits 17 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. Garden Court Apts's 34.9 kBtu/ft² across 43,752 sq ft works out to about 1.5 billion Btu (448 MWh-equivalent) in 2025. Its source EUI of 97.7 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 393,811 kWh of electricity for the year.

Which law requires Garden Court Apts to report its energy use?

Garden Court Apts 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:20198:2025). 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.