The USEPA recently unveiled its annual ENERGY STAR Top Cities list of 2020, showing which US metro areas earned the most ENERGY STAR-certified buildings in 2019. They ranked the Top 25 Cities overall, the Top 10 Mid-Size Cities, and the Top 10 Small Cities. See: https://www.energystar.gov/buildings/topcities
In 2019, the USEPA updated its ENERGY STAR scoring models to make them more stringent, partially as they reflected the improved energy performance of the overall US commercial buildings. ENERGY STAR scores are based on a 0 to 100 median system. Despite the more stringent criteria, over 5,600 buildings earned ENERGY STAR certification. According to the USEPA, they saved over $1.4 billion in energy costs and prevented the emissions of nearly 5 million metric tons of greenhouse gases. The tough standards caused a number of previously ENERGY STAR-certified buildings to drop out of ENERGY STAR status, as many dropped below the criteria of 75. The USEPA noted that many such buildings went on to incorporate upgrades to enable them to go back over 75 again and bring back their ENERGY STAR status.
Los Angeles earned 1st place with 546 ENERGY STAR-certified buildings. Washington, D.C. finished in 2nd place; San Francisco, Dallas, Atlanta, Chicago, and New York came in 3rd through 7th place this year, the latter with 200 ENERGY STAR-certified buildings in 2019.
Among mid-sized US cities, the top 5 ENERGY STAR metropolitan cities were San Jose, CA, Provo, UT, Des Moines, IA, Raleigh, NC, and Louisville, KY with 274 ENERGY STAR-certified buildings between them. The top small US city was Jackson, MI, with 50 ENERGY STAR-certified buildings by itself, 1 building for every 670 people. These buildings saved their owners over $1.1 million in energy costs.
In total, nationally, since 1999, over 36,000 buildings have earned ENERGY STAR certification. Their energy upgrade projects implemented to earn the award has brought their owners significant, continual energy costs savings for many years.
CCES has the experts to assess whether your building may already merit the ENERGY STAR award. If it does not meet the criteria, we can recommend strategies to be more energy efficient and earn the award, what each strategy costs, and what the cost savings will be. Contact us today at karell@CCESworld.com or at 914-584-6720.