Marine Business Center

How does Marine Business Center compare with other non-refrigerated warehouse buildings in Seattle?

The latest disclosures cover 164 non-refrigerated warehouse buildings in Seattle, out of 3,871 buildings citywide. Marine Business Center's ENERGY STAR score of 38 compares with an average of 58 across the 117 that report a score; it scores higher than 26% of them and lower than 74%. Its site EUI of 34.7 kBtu/ft² is about 14% above the average of 30.5 kBtu/ft² — it uses more energy per square foot than the typical building in that group. Its emissions intensity of 0.3 kgCO₂e/ft² is about 61% below the group average of 0.9 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 38,784 sq ft, it is about 34% below the average floor area of 58,727 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 2007, 47 years later than the group's average year built (1960). Across all 24 jurisdictions BuildingCensus covers, the 4,723 non-refrigerated warehouse buildings average an ENERGY STAR score of 66 and a site EUI of 26.0 kBtu/ft².

How has Marine Business Center's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 11 Seattle disclosures for Marine Business Center, covering report years 2015–2025. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 8 in 2021 to 38 in 2025 (+30 points); its best year on file was 2023, at 66. Site EUI moved from 45.3 kBtu/ft² (2015) to 34.7 kBtu/ft² (2025), a 23% decrease. Reported emissions went from 28 tCO₂e to 14 tCO₂e over the same span (down 52%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 38 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 38 means the building performs better than about 38% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 38 falls in band D — lowest band (1–54). It sits 37 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. Marine Business Center's 34.7 kBtu/ft² across 38,784 sq ft works out to about 1.3 billion Btu (394 MWh-equivalent) in 2025. Its source EUI of 91.5 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 357,323 kWh of electricity and 1,285 therms of natural gas for the year.

Which law requires Marine Business Center to report its energy use?

Marine Business 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:20387:2025). 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.