Swedish Hospital Medical Center (Alcoa Building)

How does Swedish Hospital Medical Center (Alcoa Building) compare with other medical office buildings in Seattle?

The latest disclosures cover 45 medical office buildings in Seattle, out of 3,871 buildings citywide. Swedish Hospital Medical Center (Alcoa Building)'s ENERGY STAR score of 13 compares with an average of 60 across the 32 that report a score; it scores higher than 9% of them and lower than 88%. Its site EUI of 106.2 kBtu/ft² is about 20% above the average of 88.3 kBtu/ft² — it uses more energy per square foot than the typical building in that group. Its emissions intensity of 2.9 kgCO₂e/ft² is about twice the group average of 1.5 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 30,855 sq ft, it is about 79% below the average floor area of 145,612 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1962, 17 years earlier than the group's average year built (1979). Across all 24 jurisdictions BuildingCensus covers, the 1,266 medical office buildings average an ENERGY STAR score of 64 and a site EUI of 92.2 kBtu/ft².

How has Swedish Hospital Medical Center (Alcoa Building)'s energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 11 Seattle disclosures for Swedish Hospital Medical Center (Alcoa Building), covering report years 2015–2025. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 2 in 2015 to 13 in 2025 (+11 points). Site EUI moved from 139.1 kBtu/ft² (2015) to 106.2 kBtu/ft² (2025), a 24% decrease. Reported emissions went from 87 tCO₂e to 63 tCO₂e over the same span (down 28%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 13 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 13 means the building performs better than about 13% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 13 falls in band D — lowest band (1–54). It sits 62 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. Swedish Hospital Medical Center (Alcoa Building)'s 106.2 kBtu/ft² across 30,855 sq ft works out to about 3.3 billion Btu (960 MWh-equivalent) in 2025. Its source EUI of 211.1 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 359,813 kWh of electricity and 10,628 therms of natural gas for the year.

Which law requires Swedish Hospital Medical Center (Alcoa Building) to report its energy use?

Swedish Hospital Medical Center (Alcoa Building) 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:21351:2025). 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.