Westwood Heights

How does Westwood Heights compare with other multifamily housing buildings in Seattle?

The latest disclosures cover 1,971 multifamily housing buildings in Seattle, out of 3,871 buildings citywide. Westwood Heights's ENERGY STAR score of 72 compares with an average of 83 across the 1,652 that report a score; it scores higher than 20% of them and lower than 79%. Its site EUI of 42.9 kBtu/ft² is about 23% above the average of 34.9 kBtu/ft² — it uses more energy per square foot than the typical building in that group. Its emissions intensity of 0.7 kgCO₂e/ft² is roughly in line with the group average of 0.7 kgCO₂e/ft².

At 100,536 sq ft, it is about 16% above the average floor area of 86,468 sq ft for those buildings. It was built in 1978, 5 years earlier than the group's average year built (1983). Across all 24 jurisdictions BuildingCensus covers, the 59,945 multifamily housing buildings average an ENERGY STAR score of 70 and a site EUI of 59.0 kBtu/ft².

How has Westwood Heights's energy performance changed over time?

BuildingCensus holds 11 Seattle disclosures for Westwood Heights, covering report years 2015–2025. Its ENERGY STAR score went from 19 in 2015 to 72 in 2025 (+53 points); its best year on file was 2024, at 74. Site EUI moved from 46.2 kBtu/ft² (2015) to 42.9 kBtu/ft² (2025), a 7% decrease. Reported emissions went from 88 tCO₂e to 71 tCO₂e over the same span (down 18%).

What does an ENERGY STAR score of 72 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 72 means the building performs better than about 72% of its national peers. BuildingCensus bands the score into report-card grades; 72 falls in band B — above median (70–84). It sits 3 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. Westwood Heights's 42.9 kBtu/ft² across 100,536 sq ft works out to about 4.3 billion Btu (1,264 MWh-equivalent) in 2025. Its source EUI of 102.4 kBtu/ft² also counts the energy lost generating and delivering that power, which is why it is higher. The disclosure also reports 966,171 kWh of electricity and 10,154 therms of natural gas for the year.

Which law requires Westwood Heights to report its energy use?

Westwood Heights 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:24643:2025). 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.