At a glance
Seattle Municipal Tower is a 1,354,987-square-foot office building at 700 5TH AVE in Seattle, Washington, built in 1990. In its 2025 Seattle benchmarking disclosure it reported an ENERGY STAR score of 86 out of 100 (grade A), a site energy-use intensity of 33.0 kBtu/ft² and 233 tCO₂e of greenhouse-gas emissions. That score is higher than 56% of the 378 scored office buildings in Seattle.
Seattle Energy Benchmarking Ordinance (SMC 22.920) · reporting year 2025
Benchmarking record
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| ENERGY STAR score | 86 (band A) |
| Site EUI | 33.0 kBtu/ft² |
| Source EUI | 92.4 kBtu/ft² |
| GHG emissions | 233 tCO₂e |
| GHG intensity | 0.2 kgCO₂e/ft² |
| Electricity | 11,833,550 kWh |
| Gross floor area | 1,354,987 sq ft |
| Source record | seattle:357:2025 |
The disclosure history
Year over year
| Year | Score | Δ | Site EUI | GHG emissions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025latest | 86 | -1 | 33.0 kBtu/ft² | 233 tCO₂e |
| 2024 | 87 | +4 | 32.2 kBtu/ft² | 228 tCO₂e |
| 2023 | 83 | +5 | 35.1 kBtu/ft² | 250 tCO₂e |
| 2022 | 78 | ±0 | 37.4 kBtu/ft² | 268 tCO₂e |
| 2021 | 78 | -4 | 35.9 kBtu/ft² | 257 tCO₂e |
| 2020 | 82 | -8 | 35.9 kBtu/ft² | 256 tCO₂e |
| 2019 | 90 | -1 | 40.1 kBtu/ft² | 286 tCO₂e |
| 2018 | 91 | +4 | 39.6 kBtu/ft² | 287 tCO₂e |
| 2017 | 87 | +7 | 41.0 kBtu/ft² | 293 tCO₂e |
| 2016 | 80 | -2 | 47.8 kBtu/ft² | 339 tCO₂e |
| 2015 | 82 | 53.6 kBtu/ft² | 376 tCO₂e |
Compliance context
Seattle Energy Benchmarking Ordinance (SMC 22.920)
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.
Ownership
No owning organisation shown. Names of private individuals in the disclosure are not published here.
Own or manage this building? Claim it to correct the record and get compliance alerts.
Location
- Address
- 700 5TH AVE
- City
- Seattle
- State
- Washington
- ZIP
- 98104
- Coordinates
- 47.60501, -122.32988
Within ~1 km
Nearby benchmarked buildings
Parking · 2,080,885 sq ft
- Columbia Centerscore 90
Office · 1,952,220 sq ft
Hospital (General Medical & Surgical) · 1,926,841 sq ft
- Seattle Convention Centerscore —
Convention Center · 1,842,925 sq ft
- Two Union Squarescore 96
Office · 1,605,578 sq ft
- Russell Investments Centerscore 92
Office · 1,592,914 sq ft
See also: most efficient in Seattle · biggest emitters
How does Seattle Municipal Tower compare with other office buildings in Seattle?
The latest disclosures cover 497 office buildings in Seattle, out of 3,871 buildings citywide. Seattle Municipal Tower's ENERGY STAR score of 86 compares with an average of 76 across the 378 that report a score; it scores higher than 56% of them and lower than 40%. Its site EUI of 33.0 kBtu/ft² is about 26% below the average of 44.8 kBtu/ft² — it uses less energy per square foot than the typical building in that group. Its emissions intensity of 0.2 kgCO₂e/ft² is about 73% below the group average of 0.7 kgCO₂e/ft².
At 1,354,987 sq ft, it is about 590% above the average floor area of 196,452 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1990, 25 years later than the group's average year built (1965). Across all 24 jurisdictions BuildingCensus covers, the 15,264 office buildings average an ENERGY STAR score of 73 and a site EUI of 59.3 kBtu/ft².
How has Seattle Municipal Tower's energy performance changed over time?
BuildingCensus holds 11 Seattle disclosures for Seattle Municipal Tower, covering report years 2015–2025. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 82 in 2015 to 86 in 2025 (+4 points); its best year on file was 2018, at 91. Site EUI moved from 53.6 kBtu/ft² (2015) to 33.0 kBtu/ft² (2025), a 38% decrease. Reported emissions went from 376 tCO₂e to 233 tCO₂e over the same span (down 38%).
What does an ENERGY STAR score of 86 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 86 means the building performs better than about 86% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 86 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. Seattle Municipal Tower's 33.0 kBtu/ft² across 1,354,987 sq ft works out to about 44.7 billion Btu (13,105 MWh-equivalent) in 2025. Its source EUI of 92.4 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 11,833,550 kWh of electricity for the year.
Which law requires Seattle Municipal Tower to report its energy use?
Seattle Municipal Tower 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:357:2025). 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.
More office buildings in Seattle
- Amazon Nitro· 1,323,773 sq ft · score 94 (A)
- 999 Third Ave· 1,323,055 sq ft · score 88 (A)
- Troy Block (Amazon)· 1,261,155 sq ft · score 88 (A)
- Bank Of America Fifth Avenue Plaza· 1,249,055 sq ft · score 90 (A)
- Safeco Plaza / 1001 Fourth Avenue· 1,123,435 sq ft · score 80 (B)
- Fourth & Madison ( Idx Tower)· 1,052,469 sq ft · score 81 (B)
- Office buildings in Seattle· 497 benchmarked
- All Seattle benchmarked buildings· Seattle Energy Benchmarking Ordinance (SMC 22.920)
- Most efficient large buildings in Seattle
- Least efficient large buildings in Seattle
- Biggest emitters in Seattle
Frequently asked questions
What is Seattle Municipal Tower's energy grade?
Seattle Municipal Tower scores 86 out of 100 on ENERGY STAR — band A, high performer (85–100) — in its 2025 Seattle disclosure. Scores are national percentiles against similar buildings; 75+ qualifies for ENERGY STAR certification.
How much energy does Seattle Municipal Tower use?
Its 2025 site energy-use intensity was 33.0 kBtu/ft² (92.4 kBtu/ft² source) across 1,354,987 sq ft, including 11,833,550 kWh of electricity.
What are Seattle Municipal Tower's carbon emissions?
Seattle Municipal Tower reported 233 tCO₂e of greenhouse-gas emissions (0.2 kgCO₂e/ft²) for 2025.
Where is Seattle Municipal Tower?
Seattle Municipal Tower is at 700 5TH AVE, in Seattle, Washington 98104. Its coordinates are 47.60501, -122.32988 (latitude, longitude), as published in the Building Energy Benchmarking file.
How big is Seattle Municipal Tower and when was it built?
Seattle Municipal Tower has 1,354,987 sq ft of gross floor area, as reported in its 2025 disclosure. The disclosure lists 1990 as its year built. It is classed as office.
Is Seattle Municipal Tower covered by the Seattle Energy Benchmarking Ordinance (SMC 22.920)?
Yes — it appears in the 2025 Building Energy Benchmarking disclosure, which lists the buildings reporting under the Seattle Energy Benchmarking Ordinance (SMC 22.920).
Working with Seattle building benchmarking records? Pro adds alerts, change history and CSV export ($49/mo); Enterprise adds full national files, the API and an MCP server for AI tools.
About this data
Source: Building Energy Benchmarking (Seattle Energy Benchmarking Ordinance (SMC 22.920)), as published October 2, 2026. See the methodology for how records are matched, cleaned and scored.
Cite as: BuildingCensus, “Seattle Municipal Tower, Seattle, Washington — 2025 benchmarking disclosure”, https://buildingcensus.com/buildings/seattle/seattle-municipal-tower-f216ad78 (data as of October 2, 2026).