Midtown Square

How does Midtown Square 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. Midtown Square's ENERGY STAR score of 61 compares with an average of 83 across the 1,652 that report a score; it scores higher than 13% of them and lower than 87%. Its site EUI of 47.5 kBtu/ft² is about 36% above the average of 34.9 kBtu/ft² — it uses more energy per square foot than the typical building in that group. Its emissions intensity of 1.0 kgCO₂e/ft² is about 44% above the group average of 0.7 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 427,863 sq ft, it is about 395% above the average floor area of 86,468 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 2020, 37 years later 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 Midtown Square's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 3 Seattle disclosures for Midtown Square, covering report years 2023–2025. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 67 in 2023 to 61 in 2025 (-6 points); its best year on file was 2023, at 67. Site EUI moved from 45.4 kBtu/ft² (2023) to 47.5 kBtu/ft² (2025), an 5% increase. Reported emissions went from 259 tCO₂e to 268 tCO₂e over the same span (up 4%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 61 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 61 means the building performs better than about 61% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 61 falls in band C — below median (55–69). It sits 14 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. Midtown Square's 47.5 kBtu/ft² across 427,863 sq ft works out to about 20.3 billion Btu (5,956 MWh-equivalent) in 2025. Its source EUI of 105.5 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 2,469,520 kWh of electricity and 41,917 therms of natural gas for the year.

Which law requires Midtown Square to report its energy use?

Midtown Square 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:50946:2025). 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.