#CBECS2018 | www.eia.gov/consumption/commercial
2018 Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey
U.S. Energy Information Administration #CBECS2018 | www.eia.gov/consumption/commercial 2
U.S. Energy Information Administration
Office of Energy Statistics
U.S. Department of Energy
Washington, DC 20585
This publication is available at:
https://www.eia.gov/consumption/commercial
This report was prepared by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the statistical and analytical agency
within the U.S. Department of Energy. By law, EIA's data and analyses are independent of approval by any other officer
or employee of the United States Government. The views in this report therefore should not be construed as
representing those of the U.S. Department of Energy or other federal agencies.
2018 Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption SurveyPreliminary Results
November 2020
U.S. Energy Information Administration
What is the Commercial Building Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS)?
CBECS is
• The only independent, statistically representative source of national-level data on the characteristics and energy use of commercial buildings
• A snapshot of the commercial buildings stock and energy use for the reference year—in this case, 2018
• A sample survey where every commercial building has a known chance of being selected
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) collects data for commercial buildings in two parts:
• Building characteristics are collected in an in-person or web survey of building owners and managers (6,436 building owners and managers
responded in 2018).
• Energy usage data are collected from suppliers of electricity, natural gas, fuel oil, and district heat.
EIA has conducted the CBECS periodically since 1979, as required by Congress.
• The 2018 CBECS is the 11th iteration.
#CBECS2018 | www.eia.gov/consumption/commercial 3
U.S. Energy Information Administration
Key takeaways from EIA’s 2018 CBECS preliminary building characteristics results
• Growth in building size continues to outpace increases in building stock; since 2012, the number of buildings has grown by 6% and floorspace
by 11%.
• Most buildings are small, but large buildings account for more total floorspace.
• Warehouse and storage, office, and service buildings are the most common building types.
• Building types with the largest percentage increase in the number of buildings since 2012 were service, public assembly, and lodging.
• Based on average square footage, lodging buildings are the largest building type, and buildings used primarily for food service are the
smallest.
• More than half of U.S. commercial buildings were built between 1960 and 1999; 25% have been built since 2000.
• Newer buildings are larger, on average, than older commercial buildings.
• Shares of commercial buildings, commercial floorspace, and the U.S. population are highest in the South.
#CBECS2018 | www.eia.gov/consumption/commercial 4
U.S. Energy Information Administration #CBECS2018 | www.eia.gov/consumption/commercial 5
Table of contents Slide number
Buildings and floorspace 6
Principal building activity 9
Year of construction 13
Regional estimates 17
References and additional information 20
Buildings and floorspace
The CBECS includes buildings larger than 1,000 square feet that use more than half of their
floorspace for activities that are neither residential, manufacturing, industrial, nor agricultural.
U.S. Energy Information Administration
Growth in building size outpaces increases in building stock
#CBECS2018 | www.eia.gov/consumption/commercial 7
Number of commercial buildings and floorspace
number of buildings (millions) and billion square feet
• The CBECS estimates that the total number of buildings
increased 6% from 2012 to 2018, and total floorspace
increased 11%.
• From the first CBECS we conducted in 1979 to the 2018
CBECS, the number of buildings has increased from 3.8
million to 5.9 million (55%), and the amount of
commercial floorspace has increased from 51 billion
square feet to 97 billion square feet (90%).
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
1979 1983 1986 1989 1992 1995 1999 2003 2012 2018
million buildings billion square feet
Number of commercial buildings
Total commercial floorspace
number of buildings (millions)
U.S. Energy Information Administration
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
Over 500,000
200,001 to 500,000
100,001 to 200,000
50,001 to 100,000
25,001 to 50,000
10,001 to 25,000
5,001 to 10,000
1,001 to 5,000
Most buildings are small, but large buildings dominate total floorspace
#CBECS2018 | www.eia.gov/consumption/commercial 8
Total commercial buildings and floorspace by square footage category
percentage
percentage of total commercial buildings
percentage of total commercial floorspace
• The smallest buildings (1,001 square feet (sf) to
5,000 sf) account for almost half of all
commercial buildings, but occupy only 8% of
total commercial floorspace.
• Nearly three-fourths (71%) of buildings are
10,000 sf or smaller.
• Buildings larger than 100,000 sf account for less
than 3% of commercial buildings but 34% of
commercial floorspace.
• The median building size is 5,400 sf; the average
is 16,400 sf.
Principal building activity
• Education
• Food sales
• Food service
• Health care
• Lodging
• Mercantile
• Office
• Public assembly
• Public order and safety
• Religious worship
• Service
• Warehouse and storage
• Other
• Vacant
The principal building activity is the activity or function that occupies the most floorspace in a
building. EIA designed the following principal building activity categories to group buildings
that have similar patterns of energy consumption:
Visit Building Type Definitions on the CBECS web page to learn more about these building type definitions.
U.S. Energy Information Administration
Warehouse and storage, office, and service buildings are the most common building types
#CBECS2018 | www.eia.gov/consumption/commercial 10
5.9 millionnumber of buildings
warehouse and
storage, 17%
office, 16%
service, 15%
mercantile, 9%
public assembly, 8%
religious worship, 7%
education, 7%
food service, 5%
all other buildings, 15%
lodging
health care
food sales
public order and safety
vacant
other
Percentage of commercial buildings and floorspace by principal building activity
97.0 billion total floorspace
in square feet
all other buildings, 12%
lodging, 7%
health care
food service
food sales
public order and safety
vacant
other
warehouse and
storage, 18%
office, 17%
service, 7%
mercantile, 11%public assembly, 8%
religious worship, 6%
education, 14%
• Warehouse and storage, office, and service buildings together account for 48% of all commercial buildings and 42% of total
commercial building floorspace.
• Although service buildings are the third most common, these buildings only occupy 7% of total floorspace.
• Education buildings account for 7% of all buildings, but they occupy 14% of total floorspace.
• Although food service buildings account for 5% of all commercial buildings, they occupy only 1% of total floorspace. Lodging
buildings account for 4% of commercial buildings, but occupy 7% of total floorspace.
U.S. Energy Information Administration
Many principal building activities saw an increase in the number of buildings from 2012 to 2018
#CBECS2018 | www.eia.gov/consumption/commercial 11
Number of commercial buildings by principal building activity
thousands
• The largest percentage increases in the
number of buildings were for service
(40%), public assembly (39%), lodging
(35%), and warehouse and storage
(26%).
• The largest percentage decreases in the
number of buildings were for vacant
(29%) and food service (25%).
* Change is statistically significant at the 90% confidence level.
** Change is statistically significant at the 90% and 95% confidence levels.
20182012
0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200
warehouse and storage*
office
service**
mercantile
public assembly**
religious worship
education
food service**
lodging**
vacant*
food sales
health care
other
public order and safety
U.S. Energy Information Administration
Buildings used for lodging are the largest, and buildings used primarily for food service are the smallest
#CBECS2018 | www.eia.gov/consumption/commercial 12
Average floorspace by principal building activity
square feet per building
• On average, among the principal building activities, lodging
(32,500 square feet (sf)), education (31,200 sf), and health
care (29,500 sf) are the largest buildings.
• The size of inpatient health care buildings (hospitals)
contributes greatly to the health care category’s average
floorspace. Hospitals average 269,100 sf per building,
compared with outpatient health care buildings, which
average 13,600 sf.
• On average, buildings in food service (4,900 sf), food sales
(6,600 sf), and service categories (7,400 sf) are the smallest.
0 5,000 10,000 15,000 20,000 25,000 30,000 35,000
food service
food sales
service
vacant
religious worship
public assembly
all buildings
office
warehouse and storage
public order and safety
mercantile
other
health care
education
lodging
Year of construction
The year of construction is the year in which the major part or the largest portion of a building was constructed.
U.S. Energy Information Administration
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
More than half of U.S. commercial buildings were built between 1960 and 1999
#CBECS2018 | www.eia.gov/consumption/commercial 14
• Buildings built between 1960 and 1999 account for
54% of both number of buildings and of floorspace.
• One-quarter of buildings (25%) were built since
2000, accounting for 29% of total floorspace.
• Buildings built before 1960 represent 21% of
buildings but only 17% of total floorspace.
• The median year of construction is 1982.
Share of number of buildings and floorspace by year constructed
percentage of total for all buildings
before 1920
1946–1959
1920–1945
1980–1989
1960–1969
1970–1979
2010–2018
1990–1999
2000–2009
Before 1960 1960 to 1999 2000 to 2018
buildings floorspace buildings floorspace buildings floorspace
U.S. Energy Information Administration
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
Before1920
1920 to1945
1946 to1959
1960 to1969
1970 to1979
1980 to1989
1990 to1999
2000 to2009
2010 to2018
Newer buildings are larger, on average, than older commercial buildings
#CBECS2018 | www.eia.gov/consumption/commercial 15
Average building size by year of construction
square feet
before 1960
average: 13,300 square feet
1960 to 1999
average: 16,300 square feet
2000 to 2018
average: 19,000 square feet
• Buildings constructed before 1960 are
smaller than buildings constructed since
2000—more than 5,000 square feet smaller,
on average.
• Buildings constructed since 2000 averaged
19,000 square feet, or 2,600 square feet
larger than the national average.
U.S. Energy Information Administration
Health care, lodging, and public order and safety buildings are newer than other building types
#CBECS2018 | www.eia.gov/consumption/commercial 16
Proportion of commercial buildings by year of construction and principal building activity
percentage
• More than one-third of health care, lodging, and public order and safety
buildings have been constructed since 2000.
• More than 30% of food service, religious worship, and vacant buildings
were constructed before 1960.
Before 1960 1960 to 1999 2000 to 2018
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
lodging
health care
public order and safety
food service
mercantile
warehouse and storage
food sales
service
public assembly
all buildings
office
other
education
religious worship
vacant
Regional estimates
U.S. Energy Information Administration
Commercial buildings, floorspace, and population are highest in the South
#CBECS2018 | www.eia.gov/consumption/commercial 18
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
WestSouthMidwestNortheast
buildings
floorspace
2018 U.S. population
Commercial buildings, floorspace, and U.S. population by region
percentage
• More than one-third of the U.S. population (38%), buildings
(36%), and floorspace (36%) are in the South.
• The Midwest is the only region with a smaller share of the total
U.S. population than buildings. It has the second-highest share
of buildings (29%) and floorspace (27%) but has the third-
highest share of the U.S. population (21%).
• The West has nearly one-fourth of the U.S. population (24%)
and about one-fifth of buildings (21%) and floorspace (20%).
Note: Population estimates are as of July 1, 2018.
U.S. Energy Information Administration
0 5 10 15 20 25
Pacific
Mountain
West South Central
East South Central
South Atlantic
West North Central
East North Central
Middle Atlantic
New England
Commercial buildings are largest in the Middle Atlantic
#CBECS2018 | www.eia.gov/consumption/commercial 19
• Commercial buildings in the Middle Atlantic Division
average 23,900 square feet (sf), 46% more than the
average for all U.S. buildings (16,400 sf).
• Commercial buildings are the second smallest on
average (13,900 sf) in New England and bring the
average building size for the entire Northeast region
down to 20,400 square feet, which is 24% more than
the national average floorspace.
• Buildings are smallest, on average, in the West
North Central (13,800 sf).
• The South Atlantic is the only other census division
where the average building size is larger than the
national average at 17,500 sf.
Average square feet per building by census division
thousands
Northeast
average: 20,400 square feet
Midwest
average: 15,200 square feet
South
average: 16,300 square feet
West
average: 15,600 square feet
References and additional information
U.S. Energy Information Administration
U.S. Census Regions and Divisions
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U.S. Energy Information Administration
References
#CBECS2018 | www.eia.gov/consumption/commercial 22
All graphs are sourced from Form EIA-871A, Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey.
U.S. population estimates are sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program,
based on one-year estimates from the American Community Survey.
Please direct questions about CBECS to Joelle Michaels, Survey Manager, [email protected]
U.S. Energy Information Administration
Projected schedule of additional 2018 CBECS data releases
Building characteristics detailed tables and public use microdata | Spring/Summer 2021
Consumption and expenditures preliminary estimates | Spring 2022
Consumption and expenditures detailed tables and microdata | Spring/Summer 2022
#CBECS2018 | www.eia.gov/consumption/commercial 23
U.S. Energy Information Administration
For more information
U.S. Energy Information Administration homepage | www.eia.gov
Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey | www.eia.gov/consumption/commercial
Consumption and Efficiency | https://www.eia.gov/consumption
Today in Energy | www.eia.gov/todayinenergy
#CBECS2018 | www.eia.gov/consumption/commercial 24