Seattle Buddhist Church

How does Seattle Buddhist Church compare with other worship facility buildings in Seattle?

The latest disclosures cover 67 worship facility buildings in Seattle, out of 3,871 buildings citywide. Seattle Buddhist Church's ENERGY STAR score of 70 compares with an average of 50 across the 52 that report a score; it scores higher than 75% of them and lower than 21%. Its site EUI of 25.2 kBtu/ft² is about 34% below the average of 38.1 kBtu/ft² — it uses less energy per square foot than the typical building in that group. Its emissions intensity of 0.8 kgCO₂e/ft² is about 42% below the group average of 1.4 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 30,073 sq ft, it is roughly in line with the average floor area of 32,782 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1939, 9 years earlier than the group's average year built (1948). Across all 24 jurisdictions BuildingCensus covers, the 1,035 worship facility buildings average an ENERGY STAR score of 50 and a site EUI of 47.8 kBtu/ft².

How has Seattle Buddhist Church's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 8 Seattle disclosures for Seattle Buddhist Church, covering report years 2018–2025. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 71 in 2018 to 70 in 2025 (-1 points); its best year on file was 2021, at 80. Site EUI moved from 27.5 kBtu/ft² (2018) to 25.2 kBtu/ft² (2025), a 8% decrease. Reported emissions went from 31 tCO₂e to 25 tCO₂e over the same span (down 21%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 70 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 70 means the building performs better than about 70% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 70 falls in band B — above median (70–84). It sits 5 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. Seattle Buddhist Church's 25.2 kBtu/ft² across 30,073 sq ft works out to about 0.8 billion Btu (222 MWh-equivalent) in 2025. Its source EUI of 45.0 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 93,331 kWh of electricity and 4,385 therms of natural gas for the year.

Which law requires Seattle Buddhist Church to report its energy use?

Seattle Buddhist Church 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:50267:2025). 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.