Seattle Energy Benchmarking Ordinance

Non-residential or Multifamily buildings over 20,000 square feet excluding parking and which are located entirely within the City of Seattle.

Your building may qualify for an exemption from reporting if:

• a) Buildings subject to the Seattle Residential Code, which covers detached one- and two family dwellings and multiple single-family dwellings (townhouses) not more than three stories in height with a separate means of egress, and their accessory structures.
  b) Buildings classified under the current Seattle Building Code as Residential Group R-3. This includes all residential occupancies where the occupants are primarily permanent in nature unless the occupancy is classified under R-1, R-2 or I. Per the 2012 Seattle Building Code, Group R-3 includes:
   Buildings that do not contain more than two dwelling units
   Boarding houses (non-transient) with 16 or fewer occupants
   Boarding houses (transient) with 10 or fewer occupants
   Care facilities that provide accommodations for five or fewer persons receiving care
   Congregate living facilities (non-transient) with 16 or fewer occupants
   Congregate living facilities (transient) with 10 or fewer occupants
  c) Buildings used primarily for manufacturing or industrial purposes, as demonstrated by submitting one of the following:
  a. A valid Certificate of Occupancy or construction permit documenting that at least 50% of the building is classified under the Seattle Building Code as Factory Industrial Group F. This includes buildings used for assembling, disassembling, fabricating, finishing, manufacturing, packaging, repair, or processing operations.
  b. OSE’s benchmarking exemption form, in which the Building Owner has verified that:
   Neither they nor OSE staff have been able to locate a Certificate of Occupancy for their building; and
   Their building meets the definition of a Factory Industrial Group F building as classified in the Seattle Building Code