Northgate Plaza

How does Northgate Plaza 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. Northgate Plaza's ENERGY STAR score of 91 compares with an average of 72 across the 40 that report a score; it scores higher than 57% of them and lower than 40%. Its site EUI of 43.3 kBtu/ft² is about 35% 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 0.9 kgCO₂e/ft² is about 44% below the group average of 1.7 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 94,711 sq ft, it is about 31% below the average floor area of 136,458 sq ft for those buildings. Its 1992 construction date is close to 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 Northgate Plaza's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 11 Seattle disclosures for Northgate Plaza, covering report years 2015–2025. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 45 in 2015 to 91 in 2025 (+46 points); its best year on file was 2022, at 91. Site EUI moved from 48.3 kBtu/ft² (2015) to 43.3 kBtu/ft² (2025), a 10% decrease. Reported emissions went from 92 tCO₂e to 90 tCO₂e over the same span (down 2%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 91 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 91 means the building performs better than about 91% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 91 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. Northgate Plaza's 43.3 kBtu/ft² across 94,711 sq ft works out to about 4.1 billion Btu (1,202 MWh-equivalent) in 2025. Its source EUI of 94.6 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 780,015 kWh of electricity and 14,390 therms of natural gas for the year.

Which law requires Northgate Plaza to report its energy use?

Northgate Plaza 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:22956:2025). 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.