Group Health Northgate

How does Group Health Northgate compare with other medical office buildings in Seattle?

The latest disclosures cover 45 medical office buildings in Seattle, out of 3,871 buildings citywide. Group Health Northgate's ENERGY STAR score of 94 compares with an average of 60 across the 32 that report a score; it scores higher than 81% of them and lower than 9%. Its site EUI of 52.5 kBtu/ft² is about 41% 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 0.9 kgCO₂e/ft² is about 43% below the group average of 1.5 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 38,745 sq ft, it is about 73% below the average floor area of 145,612 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1968, 11 years earlier 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 Group Health Northgate's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 11 Seattle disclosures for Group Health Northgate, covering report years 2015–2025. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 57 in 2015 to 94 in 2025 (+37 points); its best year on file was 2024, at 95. Site EUI moved from 64.7 kBtu/ft² (2015) to 52.5 kBtu/ft² (2025), a 19% decrease. Reported emissions went from 43 tCO₂e to 35 tCO₂e over the same span (down 19%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 94 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 94 means the building performs better than about 94% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 94 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. Group Health Northgate's 52.5 kBtu/ft² across 38,745 sq ft works out to about 2 billion Btu (596 MWh-equivalent) in 2025. Its source EUI of 125.7 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 479,383 kWh of electricity and 4,939 therms of natural gas for the year.

Which law requires Group Health Northgate to report its energy use?

Group Health Northgate 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:21909:2025). 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.