The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) 2018 Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS) data is now available. 

The CBECS is a national sample survey that collects information on the stock of U.S. commercial buildings, including their energy-related building characteristics and energy usage data. It defines commercial buildings as those in which at least half of the floorspace is used for a purpose that is not residential, industrial, or agricultural.  

The survey provides building characteristics information for the estimated 5.9 million commercial buildings in the United States in 2018. The data includes the number of buildings and amounts of floorspace by characteristics including geographic region, building activity, size and age, employment and occupancy, energy sources used, and energy-related equipment. 

According to the survey, the number of U.S. commercial buildings grew 6% from 2012 to 2018, and the total floorspace of commercial buildings increased by 11%. Additionally, U.S. commercial buildings are getting larger, and they more commonly feature LED lighting and emerging technologies such as electric vehicle (EV) charging stations.

Other notable takeaways from the CBECS include:  

• More than 2.5 million commercial buildings used LED lights, five times the number of buildings that used LEDs in 2012.

• Larger commercial buildings were most likely to have EV charging stations; more than one-third of buildings over 500,000 square feet had EV charging stations. Lodging and service buildings were most likely to have installed EV charging stations.

• About 10% of commercial buildings and 30% of commercial floorspace could generate electricity. All inpatient health care buildings used electricity generation technologies.

• An estimated 5% of buildings used internet-connected (smart) thermostats.

• Warehouse and storage, office, and service buildings were the most common building types.

• Half of all main shift workers in the United States worked in office and education buildings.

“How commercial buildings consume energy has major impacts on the U.S. energy sector,” said EIA Acting Administrator Steve Nalley. “CBECS data show that while commercial buildings are growing in size, they are also adopting new technologies and practices that help improve energy efficiency.”

The EIA will publish raw data files for building characteristics in November followed by preliminary estimates of energy consumption and expenditures data in spring 2022. The 2018 CBECS building characteristics data tables and flip book can be seen here.