A series of Eu 2+ -substituted yellow-green emitting phosphors based on the compound, Sr 6 M 2 Al 4 O 15 (M = Y, Lu, Sc) were identified as potential efficient phosphors based on their high calculated Debye temperatures (Θ D >450 K), which acts as a proxy for photoluminescent quantum yield (PLQY). The crystal structure contains corner-sharing [MO 6 ] octahedra and [AlO 4 ] tetrahedra leading to a highly connected, densely packed crystal structure. However, contrary to prediction, these compounds all showed a low PLQY (<6.5%) at room temperature. Temperature dependent luminescence measurements indicate that the photoluminescence is intense at 80 K but loses ≈90% of the emission intensity by room temperature, with the thermal quenching temperature (T 50 ) occurring well below room temperature. These results suggest that even though Debye temperature (Θ D ) is a valid proxy for PLQY, it does not describe thermal quenching.