Rainier Valley Leadership Academy

How does Rainier Valley Leadership Academy compare with other K-12 school buildings in Seattle?

The latest disclosures cover 153 K-12 school buildings in Seattle, out of 3,871 buildings citywide. Rainier Valley Leadership Academy's ENERGY STAR score of 80 compares with an average of 71 across the 152 that report a score; it scores higher than 55% of them and lower than 42%. Its site EUI of 26.2 kBtu/ft² is about 32% below the average of 38.3 kBtu/ft² — it uses less energy per square foot than the typical building in that group. Its emissions intensity of 0.1 kgCO₂e/ft² is about 86% below the group average of 1.1 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 41,720 sq ft, it is about half of the average floor area of 79,329 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 2018, 48 years later than the group's average year built (1970). Across all 24 jurisdictions BuildingCensus covers, the 6,548 K-12 school buildings average an ENERGY STAR score of 64 and a site EUI of 52.7 kBtu/ft².

How has Rainier Valley Leadership Academy's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 7 Seattle disclosures for Rainier Valley Leadership Academy, covering report years 2019–2025. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 87 in 2019 to 80 in 2025 (-7 points); its best year on file was 2020, at 100. Site EUI moved from 22.8 kBtu/ft² (2019) to 26.2 kBtu/ft² (2025), an 15% increase. Reported emissions went from 6 tCO₂e to 6 tCO₂e over the same span (up 15%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 80 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 80 means the building performs better than about 80% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 80 falls in band B — above median (70–84). 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. Rainier Valley Leadership Academy's 26.2 kBtu/ft² across 41,720 sq ft works out to about 1.1 billion Btu (320 MWh-equivalent) in 2025. Its source EUI of 73.4 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 320,558 kWh of electricity for the year.

Which law requires Rainier Valley Leadership Academy to report its energy use?

Rainier Valley Leadership Academy 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:50468:2025). 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.