Food Sales
Lodging
Religious Worship
Public Assembly
Public Order and Safety
Warehouse and Storage
Vacant
Other
Summary Comparison Table
(All Activities)
More information on the:
Commercial
Buildings Energy Consumption Survey
A Look at ...
Principal Building Activities
in the Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS)
When you look at a city skyline, most of the buildings you see are commercial buildings. In the CBECS, commercial buildings include office buildings, shopping malls, hospitals, churches, and many other types of buildings. Some of these buildings might not traditionally be considered "commercial," but the CBECS includes all buildings that are not residential, agricultural, or industrial.
This site contains profiles of the CBECS building type categories; these profiles answer questions about both general and energy-related characteristics.
In CBECS publications, building activities are grouped into 13 categories (listed at left). These buildings and how they use energy vary widely; the diverse activities require different building structures, equipment, work schedules, and number of workers, all of which are related to energy consumption.
The figure below shows total energy consumption. Office and retail and service buildings use the most because there these types of buildings are very common and there are many of them across the country. Together they account for 39 percent of all commercial floorspace.
The next figure shows energy used per square foot, or "energy intensity." Food service and health care buildings are the most intensive users of energy. Both of these activities require specialized equipment that would result in higher than average energy use.
The last figure shows energy intensity per hour of operation. Building types that are characterized by long working hours have a lower energy intensity after making this adjustment. Health care buildings, because they are open for long periods of time, have become respectively less energy intensive, while education buildings, which are in use for shorter periods of time, have become more energy intensive.
The data found in these profiles are all from the 1995 CBECS, which is the most recent survey for which results are available. Currently, only office, education, health care, retail and service, and food service buildings are profiled. The remaining activities will not be added until the release of the 1999 CBECS data, when all of these profiles will be updated for 1999.
Summary Comparison Table (All activities)
Specific questions may be directed to:
Joelle Davis Michaels
joelle.michaels@eia.doe.gov
CBECS Manager
URL: /consumption/commercial/data/archive/cbecs/consumptionbriefs/pbawebsite/contents.htm
Release
date: September 11, 2000
File last modified:
January 3, 2001