Washington Middle (Sps-District)

How does Washington Middle (Sps-District) compare with other K-12 school buildings in Seattle?

The latest disclosures cover 153 K-12 school buildings in Seattle, out of 3,871 buildings citywide. Washington Middle (Sps-District)'s ENERGY STAR score of 90 compares with an average of 71 across the 152 that report a score; it scores higher than 80% of them and lower than 15%. Its site EUI of 32.4 kBtu/ft² is about 15% below the average of 38.3 kBtu/ft² — it uses less energy per square foot than the typical building in that group. Its emissions intensity of 1.1 kgCO₂e/ft² is roughly in line with the group average of 1.1 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 136,188 sq ft, it is about 72% above the average floor area of 79,329 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1963, 7 years earlier than the group's average year built (1970). Across all 24 jurisdictions BuildingCensus covers, the 6,548 K-12 school buildings average an ENERGY STAR score of 64 and a site EUI of 52.7 kBtu/ft².

How has Washington Middle (Sps-District)'s energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 11 Seattle disclosures for Washington Middle (Sps-District), covering report years 2015–2025. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 67 in 2015 to 90 in 2025 (+23 points); its best year on file was 2017, at 94. Site EUI moved from 40.9 kBtu/ft² (2015) to 32.4 kBtu/ft² (2025), a 21% decrease. Reported emissions went from 185 tCO₂e to 164 tCO₂e over the same span (down 11%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 90 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 90 means the building performs better than about 90% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 90 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. Washington Middle (Sps-District)'s 32.4 kBtu/ft² across 136,188 sq ft works out to about 4.4 billion Btu (1,293 MWh-equivalent) in 2025. Its source EUI of 54.1 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 481,550 kWh of electricity and 29,697 therms of natural gas for the year.

Which law requires Washington Middle (Sps-District) to report its energy use?

Washington Middle (Sps-District) 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:227:2025). 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.