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In the Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS), buildings were classified according to principal activity, which was the primary business, commerce, or function carried on within each building. Buildings that were used for more than one of the activities described below were assigned to the activity occupying the most floorspace at the time of the interview. Thus, a building assigned to a particular principal activity category may have been used for other activities in a portion of its space or at some time during the year.

Each of the principal activity categories is listed alphabetically and described below. Lists of specific types of buildings included in each category are presented for clarification but are not intended to be exhaustive.

1. Agricultural: See Other.
   
   
2. Education: refers to buildings used for academic or technical classroom instruction. This category includes the following:
   
   

   Schools:

   Preschool

   Elementary

   Junior high

   Senior high

   College or university classroom/Laboratories

   Vocational school.

   
   

   Other activities that occur on school campuses are reported separately:

   Administration (see Office)

   Auditorium (see Public Assembly)

   Dormitory (see Lodging)

   Gymnasium (see Public Assembly)

   Infirmary (see Health Care)

   Library (see Public Assembly)

   Museum (see Public Assembly)

   School for the Mentally Retarded (see Health Care)

   Stadium (see Public Assembly)

   Student Union (see Public Assembly).

   
   
3. Enclosed Shopping Center/Mall: See Mercantile and Service.
   
   
4. Food Sales: refer to buildings used for retail or wholesale sale of food. This category includes the following:
   
   

   Convenience store or market

   Farmer's market, Fruit/Vegetable market

   Grocery store/Supermarket

   Meat/Seafood store

   Retail bakery

   Specialty food store.

   
   
5. Food Service: refers to buildings used for preparation and sale of food and beverages for consumption. This category includes the following:
   
   

   Prepared-Meal Service:

   Cafeteria
   
   

   Carry-out Service:

   Caterer

   Fast-food establishment

   Pizza parlor

   Sandwich shop
   
   

   Full-Service Restaurant:

   Bar

   Bar and grill

   Coffee shop

   Diner

   Full-menu-service establishment.

   
   
6. Health Care: refers to buildings used as diagnostic and treatment facilities for both inpatient and outpatient care. In the tables of this report, inpatient and outpatient buildings are combined in the "Health Care" Principal Building Activity category. Excluded from this group are skilled nursing or other residential care facilities (nursing homes).
   
   
   Inpatient facilities treat the mentally or physically ill. Buildings for overnight care are in this grouping. This category includes the following:
   
   

   Medical Care Hospital:

   Chronic disease

   Ear, eye, nose, and throat

   General medical and surgical

   Maternity

   Medical infirmary (connected with an institution)

   Orthopedic

   Tuberculosis/other respiratory disease
   
   

   Mental Facility:

   Mental retardation/schools for the mentally retarded

   Psychiatric
   
   

   Rehabilitation Facility:

   Alcoholism

   Substance abuse/narcotics/drug addiction

   Physical therapy.

   
   
   Outpatient facilities may be medical, dental, or psychiatric and involves diagnosis and treatment in which services are not required overnight. Buildings used for veterinary practices also fall into this category. This category includes the following:

   Dental Clinic
   
   

   Medical Clinic:

   Abortion/birth control

   Ear, eye, nose, and throat

   Emergency walk-in

   General

   Mental health/psychiatric clinic
   
   

   Veterinary Facilities.

   
   

   Hospital/Inpatient Health Services: See Health Care.
   
   

   Hotel/Motel/Dorm: See Lodging.
   
   

   Industrial/Manufacturing: See Other.
   
   

   Laboratory: See Other.
   
   

   Lodging: refers to buildings used to offer multiple accommodations for short-term or long-term residents, including nursing homes. In the table of this report, skilled nursing and other residential care facilities are included in the "Lodging" Principal Building Activity category.
   
   

   Hotel/Motel/Dorm are included in the following short-term and long-term residences:

   Short-Term Residence:

   Convention hotel

   Hotel

   Inn

   Motel

   Shelter home

   Tourist home
   
   

   Long-Term Residence:

   Boarding house

   Convent/monastery

   Extended Stay Hotels

   Dormitory/sorority/fraternity

   Orphanage

   Assisted-living elder care facilities (limited medical facilities)
   

   Skilled Nursing/Other Residential Care refers to buildings used as facilities which offer 24-hour nursing/medical care. This category includes the following:
   
   

   Homes for the aged

   Nursing homes.

   
   

   Mercantile and Service: refers to buildings used for sales and displays of goods or services (excluding food). This category includes shopping malls and strip centers, as well as retail and service as outlined below.
   
   

   Retail (other than shopping mall or strip center):

   Automobile dealers

   Building materials, Garden supply, and Hardware stores

   Department stores

   Drugstores

   Furniture, Home equipment stores and Home furnishings

   Liquor stores

   Wholesale goods (except food)
   
   

   Service (other than food service):

   Dry cleaner/Car wash/Laundry

   Gasoline stations

   Motor vehicle repair/service/maintenance

   Multiservice establishments

   Personal service

   Post office.

   
   

   Nonrefrigerated Warehouse or Storage: See Warehouse and Storage.
   
   

   Office: refers to buildings used for general office space, professional offices, and administrative offices. This category includes the following:
   
   

   Data Processing:

   Computer center

   Data entry/Keypunch
   
   

   Financial Office Building:

   Bank

   Brokerage firm

   Insurance

   Real estate

   Securities
   
   

   Professional Office Building:

   Administration of an institution

   Consulting

   Corporate

   Engineering

   Law

   Management

   Medical

   Mixed professional.

   
   

   Other: refers to buildings used for activities that do not fit into any of the specifically named categories. In the tables of this report, this category includes laboratories and buildings identified as having several commercial activities that together represent 50 percent or more of the floorspace, but whose largest single activity is agricultural, industrial/manufacturing, or residential.
   
   

   Other:

   Crematorium

   Hangar

   Public restrooms/Showers

   Telephone exchange

   Greenhouse with retail sales of plants

   Manufacturing with retail sales of products

   Printing plant with retail sales.
   
   

   Laboratory refers to buildings used for activities which utilize equipment for experimental testing or for analysis. This category includes the following:
   

   Mechanical/Electrical Laboratory

   Medical/Dental Laboratory

   Agricultural Laboratory.

   
   

   Outpatient Health Services/Clinic: See Health Care.
   
   

   Public Assembly: refers to buildings in which people gather for social or recreational activities whether in private or nonprivate meeting halls. This category includes the following:
   
   

   Entertainment Building:

   Archive/art gallery/exhibit hall/library/museum

   Coliseum/arena (enclosed)

   Concert hall

   Observatory/planetarium

   Night Club

   Radio/TV station or studio

   Theater/movie house/cinema
   
   

   Recreational Facility:

   Amusement arcade

   Bowling alley

   Community Centers

   Gymnasium/YMCA or YWCA/indoor racket sports, recreation center/athletic facility

   Indoor pool

   Poolroom

   Skating rink
   
   

   Social/Public/Civic Assembly:

   Assembly hall

   Auditorium

   Convention hall

   Funeral home

   Lecture hall

   Lodge hall

   Meeting hall

   Student union

   Town hall
   
   

   Other Enclosed Assembly Building:

   Armory

   Passenger terminal

   Stadium.

   
   

   Public Order and Safety: refers to buildings used for the preservation of law and order or public safety. This category includes the following:
   
   

   Courthouse

   Fire station

   Jail

   Penitentiary/Prison

   Reformatory

   Sheriff's office.

   
   

   Refrigerated Warehouse or Storage: See Warehouse and Storage.
   
   

   Religious Worship: refers to buildings in which people gather for religious activities. This category includes the following:
   
   

   Chapel

   Church

   Mosque

   Synagogue

   Temple.

   
   

   Residential: See Other.
   
   

   Retail (other than shopping mall or strip center): See Mercantile and Service.
   
   

   Service (other than food service): See Mercantile and Service.
   
   

   Skilled Nursing/Other Residential Care: See Lodging.
   
   

   Strip Shopping Center: See Mercantile and Service.
   
   

   Warehouse and Storage: refers to buildings used to store goods, manufacturing products, merchandise, or raw materials. In the tables of this report, both refrigerated and non-refrigerated warehouse and storage are included in the "Warehouse" Principal Building Activity category.
   
   

   Refrigerated Storage refers to buildings specifically designed to store perishable goods or merchandise under refrigeration. Includes "cold storage" facilities, which store products at temperatures between 0 degrees Fahrenheit and 50 degrees Fahrenheit and "freezer" facilities, which store products at temperatures between 0 degrees Fahrenheit and 20 degrees Fahrenheit.

   
   

   This category includes the following:
   
   

   Cheese warehouse

   Cold storage

   Fur storage.
   

   
   

   Nonrefrigerated Warehouse refers to buildings specifically designed to store perishable goods or merchandise without refrigeration.
   
   

   Vacant: refers to commercial buildings in which more floorspace was vacant than was used for any single commercial activity (as defined above) at the time of interview. Thus a vacant building may have some occupied floorspace. Vacant space does not include space being maintained and ready for use.

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File last modified: February 17, 1998

Contacts:

alan.swenson@eia.doe.gov

Alan Swenson

Principal Author

Phone: 202-586-1129

Joelle Michaels

joelle.michaels@eia.doe.gov

CBECS Manager

Phone: (202) 586-8952

FAX: (202) 586-0018