Garfield High (Sps-District)

How does Garfield High (Sps-District) compare with other K-12 school buildings in Seattle?

The latest disclosures cover 153 K-12 school buildings in Seattle, out of 3,871 buildings citywide. Garfield High (Sps-District)'s ENERGY STAR score of 81 compares with an average of 71 across the 152 that report a score; it scores higher than 58% of them and lower than 39%. Its site EUI of 38.0 kBtu/ft² is roughly in line with the average of 38.3 kBtu/ft² — it uses less energy per square foot than the typical building in that group. Its emissions intensity of 1.0 kgCO₂e/ft² is about 11% below the group average of 1.1 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 254,523 sq ft, it is about 221% above the average floor area of 79,329 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 2008, 38 years later than the group's average year built (1970). Across all 24 jurisdictions BuildingCensus covers, the 6,548 K-12 school buildings average an ENERGY STAR score of 64 and a site EUI of 52.7 kBtu/ft².

How has Garfield High (Sps-District)'s energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 11 Seattle disclosures for Garfield High (Sps-District), covering report years 2015–2025. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 63 in 2015 to 81 in 2025 (+18 points). Site EUI moved from 53.5 kBtu/ft² (2015) to 38.0 kBtu/ft² (2025), a 29% decrease. Reported emissions went from 361 tCO₂e to 250 tCO₂e over the same span (down 31%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 81 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 81 means the building performs better than about 81% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 81 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. Garfield High (Sps-District)'s 38.0 kBtu/ft² across 254,523 sq ft works out to about 9.7 billion Btu (2,835 MWh-equivalent) in 2025. Its source EUI of 75.9 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 1,540,836 kWh of electricity and 44,375 therms of natural gas for the year.

Which law requires Garfield High (Sps-District) to report its energy use?

Garfield High (Sps-District) 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:175:2025). 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.