As a project of the King County Cities Climate Collaboration with technical assistance and analysis from the Smart Buildings Center, King County recently took the step to benchmark public buildings and disclose the data in order to be more transparent with government data and measure progress towards county energy goals.
The properties in the first table below represent 47 buildings in King County over 20,000 square feet. These buildings have been benchmarked through the EPA’s free online energy benchmarking tool, Portfolio Manager. Building square footage and total annual energy use are used to calculate the Energy Use Intensity (EUI) for a given property. You can think of the EUI as a miles per gallon for your building — a lower EUI means the building is performing more efficiently, while a higher EUI may mean there are opportunities for improvement. It is also important to note that EUIs can vary in a facility based on types of computer (data center), processing and other specialized equipment at the facility.
Buildings over 20,000 square feet
In the first table, you will find year over year comparisons, current EUI results for each building, and their respective Greenhouse Gas Emissions. The percent change column identifies the difference in EUI comparing year over year results.
| Property Name | Building Type | Square Footage | 2016 GHG Emissions (Metric Tons)2 | 2014 EUI | 2015 EUI | 2016 EUI (12/31/16) | 2014 to 2015 % Change1 | 2015 to 2016 % Change1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Administration Building | Office | 204,993 | 1,267 | 69.6 | 73.4 | 74.5 | 5.5% | 1.5% |
| Airport - 7300 Building | Other | 26,420 | 103 | 52.0 | 45.6 | 50.1 | -12.3% | 9.9% |
| Airport - Main Terminal | Other | 24,990 | 313 | 160.1 | 160.4 | 176.9 | 0.2% | 10.3% |
| Airport - Maintenance Shop - DOT: KCIA | Non-Refrigerated Warehouse | 52,085 | 218 | 72.9 | 66.0 | 69.2 | -9.5% | 4.8% |
| Airport - Midfield Hangar BHSE - DOT: KCIA | Other | 21,120 | 3 | 1.7 | 1.6 | 1.7 | -5.9% | 6.2% |
| Airport Hangars C-D-E | Other | 46,300 | 29 | 6.8 | 7.6 | 6.9 | 11.8% | -9.2% |
| Airport NE Hangar T | Other | 32,540 | 18 | 5.8 | 5.7 | 6.1 | -1.7% | 7.0% |
| Archives, Records and Elections Warehouse | Non-Refrigerated Warehouse | 42,000 | 132 | 52.0 | 48.4 | 49.3 | -6.9% | 1.9% |
| Bellevue Base | Mixed Use Property | 41,500 | 303 | 112.1 | 104.0 | 91.3 | -7.2% | -12.2% |
| Black River Office Building | Office | 72,503 | 198 | 29.6 | 31.3 | 30.9 | 5.7% | -1.3% |
| Bow Lake Transfer Station | Other | 34,304 | 430 | 133.2 | 128.4 | 140.8 | -3.6% | 9.7% |
| Bus Tunnel - Convention Place | Transportation Terminal/Station | 297,568 | 383 | 17.1 | 15.4 | 14.5 | -9.9% | -5.8% |
| Bus Tunnel - Int'l District Station | Transportation Terminal/Station | 130,864 | 309 | 34.2 | 29.4 | 26.5 | -14.0% | -9.9% |
| Bus Tunnel - Pioneer Sq Station | Transportation Terminal/Station | 319,024 | 290 | 15.6 | 11.2 | 10.2 | -28.2% | -8.9% |
| Bus Tunnel - University St. Station | Transportation Terminal/Station | 263,428 | 363 | 22.4 | 18.8 | 15.5 | -16.1% | -17.6% |
| Bus Tunnel - Westlake Station | Transportation Terminal/Station | 597,688 | 160 | 3.7 | 3.3 | 3.0 | -10.8% | -9.1% |
| Cedar Hills Regional Landfill | Mixed Use Property | 133,627 | 1,051 | 96.1 | 91.6 | 88.4 | -4.7% | -3.5% |
| Chinook Building | Office | 372,242 | 1,139 | 41.0 | 40.5 | 37.2 | -1.2% | -8.1% |
| Downtown Public Health Center (Lease) | Urgent Care/Clinic/Other Outpatient | 25,497 | 124 | 60.4 | 67.8 | 54.7 | 12.3% | -19.3% |
| Earlington Building | Office | 180,000 | 819 | 29.2 | 28.2 | 31.2 | -3.4% | 10.6% |
| East Base | Mixed Use Property | 94,200 | 1,288 | 177.6 | 164.4 | 193.2 | -7.4% | 17.5% |
| Eastgate Park & Ride | Parking | 398,967 | 56 | 4.0 | 1.7 | 1.6 | -57.5% | -5.9% |
| Eastgate Public Health | Urgent Care/Clinic/Other Outpatient | 24,193 | 135 | 71.5 | 71.1 | 68.7 | -0.6% | -3.4% |
| Enumclaw Transfer Station | Other | 54,361 | 104 | 26.8 | 25.8 | 21.5 | -3.7% | -16.7% |
| Environmental Laboratory | Other | 43,025 | 688 | 226.4 | 232.4 | 218.3 | 2.7% | -6.1% |
| Federal Way Public Health | Urgent Care/Clinic/Other Outpatient | 23,700 | 127 | 68.9 | 64.1 | 66.6 | -7.0% | 3.9% |
| Goat Hill Garage | Parking | 241,811 | 108 | 5.4 | 5.3 | 5.0 | -1.9% | -5.7% |
| Graybar Building (Lease) | Mixed Use Property | 36,630 | 100 | 38.4 | 38.7 | 37.6 | 0.8% | -2.8% |
| Issaquah Highlands P&R Lot Garage | Parking | 311,900 | 99 | 4.1 | 4.0 | 3.6 | -2.4% | -10.0% |
| King County Aquatic Center - Natatorium | Fitness Center/Health Club/Gym | 69,864 | 1,373 | 252.5 | 256.5 | 263.2 | 1.6% | 2.6% |
| King County Correctional Facility | Other | 385,274 | 3,197 | 133.3 | 132.1 | 124.2 | -0.9% | -6.0% |
| King County Courthouse | Courthouse | 537,150 | 3,263 | 105.7 | 99.3 | 83.7 | -6.1% | -15.7% |
| King Street Center* | Office | 343,400 | 1,108 | 40.4 | 38.8 | 36.3 | -4.0% | -6.4% |
| Maleng Regional Justice Center | Other | 589,542 | 4,698 | 109.3 | 107.5 | 109.9 | -1.6% | 2.2% |
| North Base | Mixed Use Property | 241,520 | 843 | 61.6 | 52.3 | 45.5 | -15.1% | -13.0% |
| Orcas Maintenance Shop | Non-Refrigerated Warehouse | 27,680 | 118 | 67.3 | 61.9 | 64.2 | -8.0% | 3.7% |
| Power Distribution Headquarters | Mixed Use Property | 26,900 | 112 | 62.9 | 57.4 | 54.4 | -8.7% | -5.2% |
| RCECC - Regional Communications and Emergency Coordination Center | Office | 34,868 | 399 | 157.0 | 147.2 | 146.1 | -6.2% | -0.7% |
| Redmond Transit Center | Parking | 107,514 | 4 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.0% | -28.6% |
| Renton Roads Maintenance Complex | Mixed Use Property | 68,781 | 612 | 96.0 | 98.5 | 100.6 | 2.6% | 2.1% |
| Renton Transfer Station | Other | 15,580 | 63 | 41.5 | 43.1 | 45.8 | 3.9% | 6.3% |
| Shoreline Transfer Station | Other | 53,436 | 140 | 33.1 | 33.9 | 29.5 | 2.4% | -13.0% |
| South Base & CSC | Mixed Use Property | 194,150 | 1,988 | 165.7 | 158.3 | 141.4 | -4.5% | -10.7% |
| South Kirkland Park & Ride | Parking | 158,364 | 45 | 3.1 | 2.9 | 3.3 | -6.5% | 13.8% |
| Southwest District Court / Precinct #4 | Courthouse | 23,866 | 171 | 79.2 | 83.2 | 82.3 | 5.1% | -1.1% |
| Yesler Building | Office | 96,582 | 205 | 30.2 | 32.1 | 28.4 | 6.3% | -11.5% |
| Youth Services Center | Other | 215,922 | 1,044 | 69.5 | 64.4 | 60.5 | -7.3% | -6.1% |
Wastewater Treatment plants
While Wastewater Treatment plants use energy just like any other building would, they tend to use much more energy. For that reason, these buildings were removed from the sample above and put into their own table. This allows for a much clearer picture when comparing them against each other. Also, using EUI to compare these is not a great indicator of how energy efficient each plant is, so each treatment plant’s yearly energy usage is provided along with the Greenhouse Gas Emissions.
| Wastewater Treatment Plant | 2016 GHG Emissions (Metric Tons)2 | 2014 Energy Use (Mbtu) | 2015 Energy Use (Mbtu) | 2016 Energy Use (Mbtu) | 2014 to 2015 % Change | 2015 to 2016 % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brightwater Treatment Plant | 33,596 | 152,730 | 164,370 | 163,115 | 7.6% | -0.8% |
| Carnation Treatment Plant | 758 | 4,004 | 3,769 | 3,681 | -5.9% | -2.3% |
| South Treatment Plant | 40,502 | 208,942 | 204,701 | 196,648 | -2.0% | -3.9% |
| Vashon Treatment Plant | 225 | 1,040 | 1,037 | 1,092 | -0.3% | 5.3% |
| West Point Treatment Plant | 38,208 | 189,889 | 175,767 | 185,509 | -7.4% | 5.5% |
- For all ‘% Change’ columns, a negative value represents less energy use per square foot when compared to the year prior
- For calculating the GHG Emissions, the EPA Portfolio Manager tool (data posted above) uses regional GHG emissions coefficient estimates. Separately, King County accounts for GHG emissions using utility-specific greenhouse gas emissions coefficients from its electricity providers, based on the fuel mix of each provider
