Facts and Stats

Commercial and Industrial Program Savings

  • Last year, EPA's ENERGY STAR program for commercial buildings and industrial plants helped businesses and organizations avoid:
    • $14 billion in energy costs
    • 230 billion kWh of electricity
    • 170 million metric tons of emissions
  • Since 1992, the program has helped businesses and organizations avoid:
    • Nearly $200 billion in energy costs
    • Nearly 2.7 billion metric tons of emissions

ENERGY STAR in the Commercial Buildings Market

  • Last year alone, more than 330,000 buildings, comprising nearly 25% of all commercial building floorspace in the U.S., used EPA's ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager® tool to measure and track their energy use, water use, and waste and materials.
  • Seven states, 48 local governments, and two Canadian provinces rely on EPA’s ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager as the foundation for their energy benchmarking and transparency policies.
  • More than 900 designs for new construction projects have achieved "Designed to Earn the ENERGY STAR" designation from EPA.

ENERGY STAR Certification for Commercial Buildings

  • Last year, more than 8,800 commercial buildings earned the ENERGY STAR, saving more than $2.2 billion and preventing more than 5.7 million metric tons of emissions.
  • Since 1992, more than 43,000 commercial buildings have earned the ENERGY STAR, comprising more than 6.5 billion square feet of floor space.
  • On average, ENERGY STAR certified buildings use 35% less energy than typical buildings nationwide.
  • Studies find that ENERGY STAR certified buildings command a premium of up to 16 percent for sales prices and rental rates.1

ENERGY STAR in the Industrial Sector

  • More than 430 industrial companies partner with EPA's ENERGY STAR program.
  • 33 diverse industrial sectors work with ENERGY STAR to strategically manage their energy use, from cookie and cracker bakeries and pharmaceutical plants to integrated steel mills and petroleum refineries.
  • Nearly 700 industrial sites have achieved the ENERGY STAR Challenge for Industry, saving nearly 109 trillion Btus of energy. This equates to nearly $550 million saved in energy costs.
  • In 2023, 185 industrial sites registered for the Challenge for Industry by submitting a baseline energy intensity and 26 industrial sites achieved the Challenge for Industry by lowering their site’s energy intensity by at least 10%.

ENERGY STAR Certification for Industrial Plants

  • Since 2006, nearly 275 industrial plants have earned ENERGY STAR certification, helping those companies avoid more than:
    • $8.5 billion in energy costs
    • 1.3 quadrillion Btus of energy 
    • 85 million metric tons of emissions

References

  1. Boston Green Ribbon Commission. (2012).  Benchmarking and Disclosure:  Lessons from Leading Cities, Boston Green Ribbon Commission. https://www.abettercity.org/docs/06.2012%20-%20Benchmarking%20report%20-%20Final.pdf (PDF, 1.4 MB)