The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a list of metropolitan areas in the nation with the largest number of energy efficient buildings that earned EPA’s Energy Star in 2009.
The list is headed by Los Angeles, Washington, DC, San Francisco, Denver, Chicago, Houston, Lakeland, FL, Dallas-Fort Worth, Atlanta, and New York.
EPA first issued its ranking of cities with the most Energy Star labeled buildings last year. This year, Los Angeles remained in first place, with 293 Energy Star labeled buildings in 2009—a total of 76 million sq.ft of space.
Washington, DC moved into second place, with 204 Energy Star buildings—a total of 55.1 million sq. ft.
Meanwhile, Denver and Chicago move into the top five; and Lakeland and New York City are new to the top 10. Rounding out the list at 25 is Louisville, KY with 35 Energy Star buildings, representing 4.2 million sq. ft. of space. A full list of cities on the list can be downloaded from the EPA site here.
Continuing the growth of the past several years, in 2009 nearly 3,900 commercial buildings earned the Energy Star, representing annual savings of more than $900 million in utility bills and more than 4.7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
Energy use in commercial buildings accounts for 17% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions at a cost of over $100 billion per year. Since 1999, EPA has been awarding the Energy Star to commercial buildings that perform in the top 25% of buildings nationwide compared to similar buildings. Thirteen types of buildings can earn the Energy Star, including schools, hospitals, office buildings, retail stores and supermarkets.