Home > Commercial Buildings Home > 1992 Buildings Characteristics > Overview

Percent of Buildings and Floorspace by Census Region, 1992

Executive Summary

Key Findings

• Energy Conservation: Overall, a buildings size, as measured by floorspace, was the overwhelming determinant in whether it practiced energy management or had some type of conservation feature related to the building shell, the heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) system or the lighting system. Larger buildings were more likely to have either conservation features or practice energy management or both.

  Building age was important for specific types of energy conservation such as the use of energy management and control systems (EMCS) or lighting features; newer buildings were more likely to have taken these measures. Building age, however, was less relevant for conservation efforts related to the building shell, such as insulation and window treatments, since older buildings can be retrofitted with these features relatively easily.

• Demand-Side Management (DSM): Knowledge of utility-sponsored DSM programs appears to be a key factor in whether a building participates in a program. While only 13 percent of the CBECS respondents reported an awareness of utility-sponsored DSM programs, approximately one-third of those who were aware took part in them. However, it should be noted that only 7 percent of all buildings participated in a DSM program. This suggests that there is a large potential for energy savings in the commercial buildings sector through DSM programs.

• New Office Buildings: Newer office buildings took advantage of the more energy-efficient lighting and HVAC systems in their construction. Analysis of office buildings constructed after 1986 indicates that these buildings were three times more likely to use compact fluorescent bulbs than office buildings constructed in 1986 or earlier. Newer office buildings also reported the use of variable air-volume (VAV) systems on their heating or cooling units at five times the rate of older office buildings. There was no statistically significant difference between newer and older office buildings in the use of high-intensity discharge (HID) lights or in regularly scheduled HVAC maintenance and repair programs. Approximately 70 percent of all office buildings had regularly scheduled HVAC maintenance and repair programs.

• Government-Owned Buildings: The 1992 CBECS shows that Government-owned buildings were more likely to practice energy management than non-government-owned buildings. Approximately 59 percent of government-owned buildings utilized one or more of the following energy management practices: EMCS, DSM, energy audits, or building energy managers.

• Main Heating Fuel: As a main heating fuel, natural gas made inroads in newer buildings. The 1992 CBECS data show that the largest percentage of commercial floorspace in buildings constructed in the 1980s was primarily heated with electricity; however, the largest percentage of floorspace in buildings constructed between 1990 and 1992 was primarily heated with natural gas.

• Energy-Using Equipment: In 1992, more buildings reported the use of packaged cooling units and heat pumps, with a dramatic increase in the use of heat pumps in the West Census Region.

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File Last Modified: April 7, 1997

Contact:

Joelle Michaels

joelle.michaels@eia.doe.gov

CBECS Manager

Phone: (202) 586-8952

FAX: (202) 586-0018

URL: http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cbecs/cbecs2d.html


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