Merrill Gardens At Ballard

How does Merrill Gardens At Ballard compare with other senior living community buildings in Seattle?

The latest disclosures cover 48 senior living community buildings in Seattle, out of 3,871 buildings citywide. Merrill Gardens At Ballard's ENERGY STAR score of 59 compares with an average of 72 across the 40 that report a score; it scores higher than 25% of them and lower than 73%. Its site EUI of 45.2 kBtu/ft² is about 32% below the average of 66.7 kBtu/ft² — it uses less energy per square foot than the typical building in that group. Its emissions intensity of 1.1 kgCO₂e/ft² is about 35% below the group average of 1.7 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 115,947 sq ft, it is about 15% below the average floor area of 136,458 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 2016, 25 years later than the group's average year built (1991). Across all 24 jurisdictions BuildingCensus covers, the 1,181 senior living community buildings average an ENERGY STAR score of 71 and a site EUI of 73.6 kBtu/ft².

How has Merrill Gardens At Ballard's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 9 Seattle disclosures for Merrill Gardens At Ballard, covering report years 2017–2025. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 91 in 2017 to 59 in 2025 (-32 points); its best year on file was 2017, at 91. Site EUI moved from 55.2 kBtu/ft² (2017) to 45.2 kBtu/ft² (2025), a 18% decrease. Reported emissions went from 173 tCO₂e to 117 tCO₂e over the same span (down 32%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 59 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 59 means the building performs better than about 59% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 59 falls in band C — below median (55–69). It sits 16 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. Merrill Gardens At Ballard's 45.2 kBtu/ft² across 115,947 sq ft works out to about 5.2 billion Btu (1,536 MWh-equivalent) in 2025. Its source EUI of 94.4 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 831,057 kWh of electricity and 19,492 therms of natural gas for the year.

Which law requires Merrill Gardens At Ballard to report its energy use?

Merrill Gardens At Ballard 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:50167:2025). 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.