How Does Your Building Energy Use Compare with Other Buildings?

A data-based approach using Seattle’s 2015 building benchmarking data.

Photo by Zach Searcy on Unsplash

Seattle published 2015 building performance data for more than 3,300 buildings through the City’s Open Data portal (data.seattle.gov). The portal displays a wide range of building information — such as a building type, floor area, age, and primary property type— as well as energy performance metrics like energy use per square foot (EUI), ENERGY STAR score, and greenhouse gas emissions.

Part I: Which Types of Buildings Use More Energy?

Energy Use Intensity (EUI) is a building’s total annual energy use (electricity, natural gas, and steam) divided by its gross floor area. It is measured in kBtu/sf (one thousand British thermal units per square foot). Since EUI normalizes for size, the energy use of similar building types can be compared. Higher EUIs show greater energy use, whereas lower EUIs indicate more energy-efficient buildings.

Figure 1 shows the highest median site energy use intensity (EUI) belongs to Supermarket/Grocery Store, Laboratory, and Hospital.

Figure 1

Part II: Which Types of Buildings Contribute Most to Greenhouse Gas Emissions?

The fuel mix is an important metric associated with greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Figure 2 shows the categories that contribute the most significant contributors to Seattle’s greenhouse gas emissions include Hospital, Restaurant, Laboratory, and Supermarket/Grocery Store buildings.

Figure 2

Part III: How Do the Different Buildings Relate to Greenhouse Gas Emissions?

As we mentioned above the fuel mix is an important metric associated with greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. As fuel sources contribute differently to greenhouse gas emissions, it is important to monitor the fuel mix composition. This composition mostly includes electricity, natural gas, and steam. Figure 3 shows median site energy use intensity(EUI) and median greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The fuel composition is different for different building types. For example, the hospital contributes the most to Seattle’s greenhouse gas emissions while Energy Use Intensity(EUI) in Supermarket/Grocery Store buildings is the most.

Figure 3

Conclusion

In this article, we took a look at Seattle's published 2015 building performance data.

1. We showed what type of building used more total annual energy per its gross floor area(EUI (kBtu/sf)).
2. We then looked at the categories that contribute the most to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
3. We showed how do the different buildings relate to greenhouse gas emissions.

To see more about this analysis, see the link to my Github available here.