Portal Over Lake Union Condominium

How does Portal Over Lake Union Condominium 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. Portal Over Lake Union Condominium's ENERGY STAR score of 85 compares with an average of 83 across the 1,652 that report a score; it scores higher than 38% of them and lower than 61%. Its site EUI of 38.2 kBtu/ft² is roughly in line with the average of 34.9 kBtu/ft². Its emissions intensity of 0.7 kgCO₂e/ft² is roughly in line with the group average of 0.7 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 71,592 sq ft, it is about 17% below the average floor area of 86,468 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 2004, 21 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 Portal Over Lake Union Condominium's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 11 Seattle disclosures for Portal Over Lake Union Condominium, covering report years 2015–2025. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 68 in 2015 to 85 in 2025 (+17 points); its best year on file was 2023, at 89. Site EUI moved from 38.4 kBtu/ft² (2015) to 38.2 kBtu/ft² (2025), a 1% decrease. Reported emissions went from 33 tCO₂e to 39 tCO₂e over the same span (up 20%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 85 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 85 means the building performs better than about 85% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 85 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. Portal Over Lake Union Condominium's 38.2 kBtu/ft² across 71,592 sq ft works out to about 2.7 billion Btu (801 MWh-equivalent) in 2025. Its source EUI of 89.5 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 493,127 kWh of electricity and 5,980 therms of natural gas for the year.

Which law requires Portal Over Lake Union Condominium to report its energy use?

Portal Over Lake Union Condominium 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:25327:2025). 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.