Facts and Stats

In 2015 alone, American families and businesses have saved $34 billion on utility bills and prevented greenhouse gas emissions equal to those from 63 million vehicles. To date, more than 1.6 million new homes and 29,700 buildings and plants have earned the ENERGY STAR. Americans purchased more than 300 million ENERGY STAR certified products in 2015 across more than 70 product categories for a cumulative total of more than 5.5 billion products since 1992.

ENERGY STAR for commercial and industrial facilities (as of year-end 2015)

  • Created in: 1992
  • Administered by: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
  • ENERGY STAR partner organizations: More than 7,400
    • Percent of the FORTUNE 100®: 57 percent
  • ENERGY STAR certified buildings and plants: More than 29,70017
  • Commercial buildings actively measuring and tracking their energy use: More than 450,000 
    • In square footage: More than 40 billion
    • Percentage of the commercial buildings market: More than 40 percent
  • Commercial buildings that have certified as ENERGY STAR: More than 25,000
    • Certified commercial square footage: More than 3.7 billion
    • Cumulative cost savings: $3.4 billion
    • Cumulative greenhouse gas emissions prevented: More than 17 million MtCO2e
    • That’s equal to: The electric use of more than 2.3 million homes annually
  • Commercial building design projects that are “Designed to Earn the ENERGY STAR”: More than 700
    • Projected cost savings: More than $75 million
    • Projected greenhouse gas emissions savings: Nearly 600,000 MtCO2e
    • That’s equal to: The electric use of more than 82,000 homes annually
  • Industrial plants that have been certified as ENERGY STAR: More than 140
    • Cumulative cost savings: More than $3.5 billion
    • Cumulative greenhouse gas emissions prevented: Nearly 35 million MtCO2e
    • That’s equal to: The electric use of nearly 5 million homes annually

Energy use in commercial and industrial facilities

  • Combined number of commercial buildings and industrial facilities in the United States: nearly 6 million1
    • Number of U.S. commercial buildings: 5.6 million
    • Number of U.S. industrial facilities: 346,000
  • Combined annual energy costs for U.S. commercial buildings and industrial facilities: $400 billion2
  • Portion of energy in buildings used inefficiently or unnecessarily: 30 percent3
  • Combined percentage of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions generated by commercial buildings and industrial facilities: 45 percent4
    • U.S. greenhouse gas emissions generated by commercial buildings: 16 percent
    • U.S. greenhouse gas emissions generated by industrial facilities: 27 percent
  • If the energy efficiency of commercial and industrial buildings improved by 10 percent, the collected savings would be:
    • Amount of money: $40 billion5
    • Amount of greenhouse gas emissions prevented: equal to the emissions from about 49 million vehicles6 – or about 19 percent of all registered highway vehicles in the United States.7

Global energy and climate

  • The approximate energy released in the burning of a wood match: 1 Btu8
  • Total energy used in the U.S. each year: 95 quadrillion Btu9
  • Portion of U.S. annual energy use created by the combustion of fossil fuels: 82 percent10
  • Amount of global carbon dioxide (CO2) released into the atmosphere in 2012: 32,723 million metric tons11
  • U.S. contribution of global greenhouse gas emissions: about 16 percent12
  • U.S. population relative to the world: 4.4 percent13
  • Amount greenhouse gas emissions have increased between 1970 and 2004: 70 percent14
  • Period of time in which the 10 hottest years on record have occurred: 1998 to 201415
  • Earth's hottest year on record: 201416

Sources
1 Energy Information Administration. “A Look at the U.S. Commercial Building Stock: Results from EIA's 2012 Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS).” 19 March 2015. 5.6 million commercial buildings. Energy Information Administration “2010 Manufacturing Energy Consumption Survey (MECS).” Table 9-1: Enclosed Floorspace and Number of Establishment Buildings, 2010.” 19 March 2015. Approximate Number of All Buildings Onsite (Total) = 346,914. Total estimated by adding commercial and industrial buildings (5,600,000  + 346,914 = approximately 6,000,000).

2 U.S. Department of Energy Better Buildings program. 19 March 2015. Total annual cost of energy in the commercial and industrial sector: $400 billion.

3 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ENERGY STAR program. "Useful Facts and Figures." No date referenced. 1 June 2007.

4 Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas and Sinks: 1990-2013. Table 2-5: CO2 Emissions from Fossil Fuel Combustion by End-Use Sector (MMT CO2 Eq.)" February 2015.

5 U.S. Department of Energy Better Buildings program. 19 March 2015. Total annual cost of energy in the commercial and insutrial sector: $400 billion. 10% of $400 billion = $40 billion.

6 Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas and Sinks: 1990-2013. Table 2-5: CO2 Emissions from Fossil Fuel Combustion by End-Use Sector (MMT CO2 Eq.)" February 2015. From Table 2-5: Commercial Total CO2 = 934.4 MMTCO2e. Industrial CO2 = 1400 MMTCO2e. Total CO2 = 2334.4 MMTCO2e. Using US EPA's Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator 2334 Million Metric Tons CO2 = 491,368,421 vehicles; 10% reduction for Challenge = approximately 49 million vehicles (Source: EPA).

7 U.S. Department of Transportation Bureau of Transportation Statistics. "National Transportation Statistics, Table 1-11: Number of U.S. Aircraft, Vehicles, Vessels, and Other Conveyances." 19 March 2015. 253,639,386 registered vehicles (49,136,842 vehicles = 19%).

8 Energy Information Administration. "Apples, Oranges, and BTU." June 2006. 1 June 2007.

9 Energy Information Administration. "Energy Overview." Annual Energy Review 2014. Latest figures are for 2012.

10 Ibid.

11 Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas and Sinks: 1990-2013. ES-8. February 2015. 19 March 2015.

12 Ibid.

13 U.S. Census Bureau. "U.S. and World Population Clocks - POPClocks." 19 March 2015. U.S. population is at 4.4% of world total.

14 IPCC, 2007: Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group III to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA. Summary for Policymakers, section B.

15 National Climatic Data Center.

16 Ibid.

17 Number of certified buildings and plants retrieved from the buildings' registry on January 18, 2017.