The Ballard Market

How does The Ballard Market compare with other supermarket/grocery store buildings in Seattle?

The latest disclosures cover 41 supermarket/grocery store buildings in Seattle, out of 3,871 buildings citywide. The Ballard Market's ENERGY STAR score of 67 compares with an average of 70 across the 35 that report a score; it scores higher than 37% of them and lower than 60%. Its site EUI of 296.2 kBtu/ft² is about 57% above the average of 188.2 kBtu/ft² — it uses more energy per square foot than the typical building in that group. Its emissions intensity of 7.0 kgCO₂e/ft² is about 67% above the group average of 4.2 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 29,214 sq ft, it is about half of the average floor area of 53,722 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1966, 21 years earlier than the group's average year built (1987). Across all 24 jurisdictions BuildingCensus covers, the 1,646 supermarket/grocery store buildings average an ENERGY STAR score of 71 and a site EUI of 176.1 kBtu/ft².

How has The Ballard Market's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 11 Seattle disclosures for The Ballard Market, covering report years 2015–2025. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 13 in 2015 to 67 in 2025 (+54 points). Site EUI moved from 299.2 kBtu/ft² (2015) to 296.2 kBtu/ft² (2025), a 1% decrease. Reported emissions went from 175 tCO₂e to 199 tCO₂e over the same span (up 14%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 67 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 67 means the building performs better than about 67% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 67 falls in band C — below median (55–69). It sits 8 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. The Ballard Market's 296.2 kBtu/ft² across 29,214 sq ft works out to about 8.7 billion Btu (2,536 MWh-equivalent) in 2025. Its source EUI of 613.9 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 1,433,373 kWh of electricity and 34,762 therms of natural gas for the year.

Which law requires The Ballard Market to report its energy use?

The Ballard Market 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:22230:2025). 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.