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2003 Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey—Overview of Commercial Buildings Characteristics

 

The Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS) estimates that there were nearly 4.9 million commercial buildings and more than 71.6 billion square feet of commercial floorspace in the U. S. in 2003.

The CBECS is a national-level sample survey of commercial buildings that are larger than 1,000 square feet in size. The 2003 CBECS is significant because it is the first to be conducted using a completely new sample frame (i.e., the list of buildings from which the buildings to be surveyed were selected). The previous sample frame was first used in 1986.

Principal Building Activities

The commercial buildings sector is dominated by four building activities—education, mercantile, office, and warehouse and storage. Together they comprise 60 percent of total commercial floorspace and 51 percent of buildings. Table 1 presents preliminary estimates for total floorspace (graph), number of buildings (graph), and mean building size for 14 principal building activities.

Table 1. Number of Buildings and Floorspace by Principal Building Activity, 2003

 

Number of Buildings

Total Floorspace

Mean Square Feet per Building

(thousand)
(million sq.ft.)
(thousand)
All Buildings
4,859
71,658
14.7
Principal Building Activity      
Education
386
9,874
25.6
Food Sales
226
1,255
5.6
Food Service
297
1,654
5.6
Health Care
129
3,163
24.6
Lodging
142
5,096
35.8
Mercantile
657
11,192
17.0
Office
824
12,208
14.8
Public Assembly
277
3,939
14.2
Public Order and Safety
71
1,090
15.5
Religious Worship
370
3,754
10.1
Service
622
4,050
6.5
Warehouse and Storage
597
10,078
16.9
Other
79
1,738
21.9
Vacant
182
2,567
14.1
Source: Energy Information Administration, 2003 Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey.

Census Region and Division

The South Census Region has the largest percentage of commercial buildings (39%) and commercial floorspace (37%) of the four regions (buildings graph, floorspace graph). Buildings in the Northeast Region are the largest in average size (18,400 sq. ft.) and those in the Middle Atlantic are the largest (20,700 sq. ft.) of any of the nine divisions.

Table 2. Number of Buildings and Floorspace by Census Region and Division, 2003
 

Number of Buildings

Total Floorspace

Mean Square Feet per Building

(thousand)
(million sq. ft.)
(thousand)
All Buildings
4,859
71,658
14.7
Census Region and Division
Northeast
761
13,995
18.4
—New England
252
3,452
13.7
—Middle Atlantic
509
10,543
20.7
Midwest
1,305
18,103
13.9
—East North Central
728
12,424
17.1
—West North Central
577
5,680
9.8
South
1,873
26,739
14.3
—South Atlantic
926
13,999
15.1
—East South Central
360
3,719
10.3
—West South Central
587
9,022
15.4
West
920
12,820
13.9
—Mountain
316
4,207
13.3
—Pacific
603
8,613
14.3
Source: Energy Information Administration, 2003 Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey.

Size of Buildings

The vast majority of commercial buildings are in the smallest size categories (graph). More than half (53%) are 5,000 square feet in size or smaller, nearly three-fourths (73%) are 10,000 square feet or smaller. Just two percent of buildings are larger than 100,000 square feet in size, but these large buildings account for more than one-third (35%) of total commercial floorspace.

Table 3. Number of Buildings and Floorspace by Size of Building, 2003
 

Number of Buildings

Total Floorspace

Mean Square Feet per Building

(thousand)
(million sq. ft.)
(thousand)
All Buildings
4,859
71,658
14.7
Building Floorspace
(square feet)
1,001 to 5,000
2,586
6,922
2.7
5,001 to 10,000
948
7,033
7.4
10,001 to 25,000
810
12,659
15.6
25,001 to 50,000
261
9,382
36.0
50,001 to 100,000
147
10,291
70.2
100,001 to 200,000
74
10,217
138.6
200,001 to 500,000
26
7,494
287.6
Over 500,000
8
7,660
937.6
Source: Energy Information Administration, 2003 Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey

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Specific questions may be directed to:

Joelle Michaels
joelle.michaels@eia.doe.gov
CBECS Manager
Phone: (202) 586-8952
FAX: (202) 586-0018

Alan Swenson
alan.swenson@eia.doe.gov
Phone: (202) 586-1129
FAX: (202) 586-0018

URL: http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cbecs/cbecs2003/introduction.html