The Church In Seattle

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

The latest disclosures cover 67 worship facility buildings in Seattle, out of 3,871 buildings citywide. The Church In Seattle's ENERGY STAR score of 64 compares with an average of 50 across the 52 that report a score; it scores higher than 69% of them and lower than 27%. Its site EUI of 17.3 kBtu/ft² is about half of 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 0.4 kgCO₂e/ft² is about 73% below the group average of 1.4 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 27,500 sq ft, it is about 16% below the average floor area of 32,782 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1978, 30 years later 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 The Church In Seattle's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 11 Seattle disclosures for The Church In Seattle, covering report years 2015–2025. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 70 in 2015 to 64 in 2025 (-6 points); its best year on file was 2021, at 79. Site EUI moved from 18.7 kBtu/ft² (2015) to 17.3 kBtu/ft² (2025), a 7% decrease. Reported emissions went from 13 tCO₂e to 14 tCO₂e over the same span (up 8%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 64 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 64 means the building performs better than about 64% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 64 falls in band C — below median (55–69). It sits 11 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 Church In Seattle's 17.3 kBtu/ft² across 27,500 sq ft works out to about 0.5 billion Btu (139 MWh-equivalent) in 2025. Its source EUI of 37.3 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 115,596 kWh of electricity and 2,310 therms of natural gas for the year.

Which law requires The Church In Seattle to report its energy use?

The Church In Seattle 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:26695:2025). 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.