Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS)

Overview
Data

Analysis & Projections

Comparisons Between 1992, 1995, 1999, and 2003 CBECS

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Table 1. Survey Sample and Design
	1992	1995	1999	2003
Sample Size (in-scope)	7,288 total; 5,468 area sample; 1,820 supplemental list	6,639 total; 5,448 area sample; 1,191supplemental list	6,313 total; 5,694 area sample; 619 supplemental list	6,380 total; 5,736 area sample; 644 supplemental list
Response Rate	91%	87%	86%	82%
Target Population: Building Use	Buildings used primarily for commercial purposes; EXCLUDES nonresidential, agricultural and industrial buildings; INCLUDES commercial buildings on industrial facilities	Same as 1992 EXCEPT EXCLUDES commercial buildings on industrial facilities and parking garages	Same as 1995	Same as 1995
Target Population: Building Size	Buildings larger than 1,000 square feet	Same as 1992	Same as 1992 EXCEPT sample did not include buildings constructed since 1995 that were under 10,000 square feet in size	Same as 1992
Target Population: Location	50 States and District of Columbia	Same as 1992	Same as 1992	Same as 1992
Target Respondent: Building Characteristics	Building owners, managers or tenants	Same as 1992	Same as 1992	Same as 1992
Target Respondent: Energy Consumption andÂ Expenditures	Energy suppliers	Same as 1992	Building owners, managers or tenants (energy suppliers were contacted only when information could not be provided by the building respondent, or the figures provided did not pass survey edits)	Same as 1999
Data Collection Instrument	Paper and Pencil Personal Interview	Computer Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI)	Computer Assisted Telephone Interview (CATI)	Computer Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI)
Supplemental Collections	Data on building maintenance and repairs for the Bureau of Census	None collected	None collected	Supplemental sample collected for Enviromental Protection Agency
Table 2. Building Characteristics
	1992	1995	1999	2003
Principal Building Activity: Collection	Interviewer observation, then confirmed with respondent	Same as 1992	Asked of respondents only; specific building types were collected within major categories	Same as 1999
Principal Building Activity: Categories	Vacant; Office/Professional; Shopping center/ Mall/Retail/Service; Laboratory; Non-refrigerated warehouse or storage; Food sales; Public order and safety; Outpatient health services/ Clinic; Industrial processing and manufacturing; Agricultural purposes; Refrigerated warehouse or storage; Religious worship; Public assembly; Education; Food services; Hospital/Inpatient health services; Skilled nursing/Other residential care; Hotel/Motel/Dorm; Residential; Indoor enclosed parking garage; Other	Same as 1992 EXCEPT these activities broken out into separate categories: Enclosed shopping mall; Strip shopping center; Retail other than mall; Service	Fewer initial general categories, but ultimately same as 1995 after specific building type questions asked	Same as 1999 AND Data center/Computer "server farm"
Out of Scope Activities	Industrial; Agricultural; Residential	Same as 1992 AND Indoor parking garages	Same as 1995	Same as 1995
Floorspace	Actual square footage or square footage categories: 1,001 to 5,000; 5,001 to 10,000; 10,001 to 25,000; 25,001 to 50,000; 50,001 to 100,000; 100,001 to 200,000; 200,001 to 500,000; Over 500,000	Same as 1992	Same as 1992	Same as 1992
Year Constructed	Actual year constructed or year constructed categories: 1899 or before; 1900-1919; 1920-1945; 1946-1959; 1960-1969; 1970-1979; 1980-1989; 1990-1992	Actual year constructed or year constructed categories: 1899 or before; 1900-1919; 1920-1945; 1946-1959; 1960-1969; 1970-1979; 1980-1989; 1990-1992; 1993-1995	Actual year constructed or year constructed categories: 1919 or before; 1920-1945; 1946-1959; 1960-1969; 1970-1979; 1980-1989; 1990-1995; 1996-1999	Actual year constructed or year constructed categories: 1919 or before; 1920-1945; 1946-1959; 1960-1969; 1970-1979; 1980-1989; 1990-1999; 2000-2003
Ownership/ Occupancy	Building owned by/occupied by (asked once for owned and again for occupied): Federal government; State government; Local government; Privately-owned utility Company; Religious organization; Private or non-profit organizationÂ	Building owned by: Federal government; State government; Local government	Same as 1995	Building owned by: Federal government; State government; Local government; Property management company; Other corporation, partnership, or LLC; Religious organization; Other non-profit organization; Privately-owned school; Individual owner; Other
	Number of businesses or organizations that occupy the building	Same as 1992	Same as 1992	Same as 1992
	Whether the occupant is (or the occupants include) the owner or owner's representative	Whether one of the occupants is the building owner or owner's representative	Whether the occupant (or one of the occupants) owns the building, and if not, whether the owner employs anyone who works on-site	Whether this owner occupies any space in building
Hours of Operation	Number of normal operating hours for each day of the week (or, for each day, whether the building is open 24 hours, is not open, or the hours vary) OR Hours vary by season	Open 24 hours a day OR If the hours do not vary, the opening and closing times for weekdays, Saturday, and SundayÂ	Open 24 hours a day OR Whether building is open Monday through Friday, open some of the days, or not open on weekdays; and Whether it is normally open on weekends	Same as 1999
	Total operating hours per week (actual number or category)	Same as 1992	Same as 1992	Same as 1992
Number of Employees	Number of main shift workers (actual number or category)	Same as 1992	Same as 1992	Same as 1992
	Total workers across all shifts (actual number of category)	Not collected	Not collected	Not collected
Predominant Exterior Wall Material Categories	Masonry; Siding or shingles; Metal panels; Concrete panels; Window glass; Decorative glass; Other	Same as 1992 AND No one major type	Not collected	Brick, stone or stucco; Concrete panels; Concrete (block or poured); Siding or shingles; Metal panels; Window glass; Decorative glass; Other; No one major type
Predominant Roof Material Categories	Built-up; Wood shingles; Shingles (not wood); Metal surfacing; Synthetic or rubber; Slate or tile; Concrete; Other	Same as 1992 AND No one major type	Not collected	Same as 1995
Building Footprint	Square; Rectangle; Rectangle or Square with courtyard; H-Shaped; U-Shaped; E-Shaped; T-Shaped; L- or Right angle- shaped; Cross-shaped; Other	Not collected	Not collected	Same as 1992 EXCEPT Rectangle broken out into Wide rectangle or Narrow rectangle
	Length and width of building	Not collected	Not collected	Â Not collected
Exterior glass	Percentage of exterior wall surface that is glass	Not collected	Not collected	Range describing percent of exterior wall surface that is glass: 10 percent or less; 11 to 25 percent; 26 to 50 percent; 51 to 75 percent; 76 to 100 percent AND Whether amount of glass is same for all sides of building and, if not, whether the sides receiving direct sunlight have more or less glass area than the sides that do not receive direct sunlight
Floors	Actual number of floors in tallest section of building (including basements and parking levels)	Same as 1992	Same as 1992	Same as 1992
Elevators and Escalators	Not collected	Not collected	Not collected	Presence and number of each
Renovations	Not collected	Not collected	Not collected	For buildings constructed before 1980, whether any portion of building had undergone major renovations since 1980, and which types: Addition or annex; Reduction of floorspace; Cosmetic improvements; Exterior replacement; Interior wall re-configuration; HVAC upgrade; Lighting upgrade; Window replacement; Plumbing upgrade; Insulation upgrade
Space Usage	Commercial food preparation; Computer room; Activities requiring special ventilation equipment; Activities requiring large amounts of hot water	Same as 1992 EXCEPT did not ask about rooms requiring special ventilation equipment	Same as 1995 EXCEPT did not ask about computer room	Same as 1995
Multibuilding Facility	Whether building is on multibuilding facility	Same as 1992	Same as 1992	Same as 1992
	Presence of central physical plant that produces: District hot water; District steam; District chilled water; Electricity	Same as 1992	Same as 1992	Same as 1992
	Primary business, commerce or function of multibuilding facility: Primary or secondary school; College, university or junior college; Other school; Shopping center/Mall; Automotive sales and service; Other retail sales and service; Office; Warehouse; Industrial/ Manufacturing; Hospital or other health service; Religious activities; Hotel/Motel; Amusement or recreation; Transportation; Residential; Agricultural; Other	Primary business, commerce or function of multibuilding facility: Primary or secondary school; College, university or junior college; Other school; Hospital or other health care; Manufacturing industrial; Other industrial; Transportation; Post office; Prison; Other government; Other	Primary business, commerce or function of multibuilding facility: Primary or secondary school; College, university or junior college; Other school; Office; Retail; Religious; Hospital or other health care; Post office; Other goverment; Manufacturing industrial; Other industrial; Transportation; Other	Same as 1999 AND Lodging or resort
	Not collected	Not collected	Whether campus or complex is owned by the Federal goverment	Same as 1999
Table 3. Energy Sources and Consumption
	1992	1995	1999	2003
Energy Sources	Used in building: Electricity; Natural gas; Fuel oil, diesel, or kerosene; Bottled gas, LPG or propane; District steam; District hot water; District chilled water; Wood; Coal; Photovoltaic cells; Solar thermal panels; Other	Same as 1992	Same as 1992 EXCEPT did not ask about Photovoltaic cells	Same as 1999
Energy End Uses	Energy used for: Heating Air conditioning; Domestic hot water; Commercial or institutional cooking; Manufacturing; Electricity generationÂ	Same as 1992	Same as 1992	Same as 1992
Energy Technologies	Presence of: Thermal energy storage; Passive solar features; Geothermal energy; Well water for cooling; Waste incineration for energy; Wind generation; Other	Presence of: Passive solar features; Photovoltaic arrays; Geothermal energy; Well water for Cooling ; Wind Generation	Not collected	Not collected
Fuel Switching	Building could switch main heating fuel within one week's time to: Electricity; Natural Gas; Fuel Oil, diesel, or kerosene; Propane; District steam; District hot water; Wood; Other	Same as 1992Â AND Coal and Solar	Not collected	Not collected
Electricity Generation or Cogeneration	Building has ability to generate electric power for: Emergency back-up; Only during high electricity demand; Continuously for most of year	Same as 1992	Building actually generated electricity during survey period for: Emergency back-up; Only during high electricity demand; Whenever electricity used	Same as 1999
	Generating system is cogeneration system	Same as 1992	Not collected	Same as 1992
	System is interconnected with electric utility	Same as 1992	Not collected	Same as 1992
	On-site generated electric power is: Totally consumed within building; Partially or totally delivered to local electric utility; Partially or totally delivered to another building(s)	Same as 1992	Not collected	Not collected
Electricity Generation Technologies	Not collected	Not collected	Not collected	Photovoltaic cells; Fuel cells; Microturbines
Electricity Purchasing	Not collected	Percentage category of electricity purchased from: Local utility; Non-utility; Non in-house source (such as independent power producer)	Whether purchased from: Local utility; Independent power producer or non-local utility; Someone else such as a broker AND Percentage of electricity purchased from local utility	Same as 1999
Natural Gas Purchasing	Gas purchased from other than local distribution company	Same as 1992	Same as 1992	Same as 1992
	Cost of gas purchased from other than local distribution company	Not collected	Not collected	Not collected
Consumption and Expenditures	Estimated cost (ranges) of electricity, natural gas, fuel oil	Same as 1992	Not collected	Not collected
	Estimated amount (range) and cost (range) of propane and wood	Same as 1992	Same as 1992	Same as 1992
	Actual energy consumption and expenditures obtained from energy suppliers in separate Energy Supplier Survey	Same as 1992	Actual energy consumption and expenditures obtained from building respondent; when not available (or when reported data failed edits), consumption and expenditures obtained from energy suppliers in separate mail survey	Same as 1999
Table 4. Energy-Using Equipment
	1992	1995	1999	2003
Heated Floorspace	Percent of total floorspace heated to at least 50 degrees Fahrenheit	Same as 1992	Same as 1992	Same as 1992
Heating Equipment	Types of equipment and percentage of floorspace heated by: Heat pumps; Furnaces; Individual space heaters; District steam or hot water piped in from outside source; Boilers; Packaged heating units; Other typeÂ	Same as 1992	Same as 1992 AND Main equipment replaced since 1995	Same as 1992 AND Main equipment replaced since 1990 AND Type of heat pump system: Packaged unit; Residential-type split system; Individual room heat pump AND Heat pump source: Air source; Ground source or ground water; Water loop
Cooled Floorspace	Percentage of total floorspace cooled by air conditioning equipment	Same as 1992	Same as 1992	Same as 1992
Cooling Equipment	Types of equipment and percentage of floorspace cooled by: Residential type central air conditioner; Heat pumps for cooling; Individual room air conditioners; District chilled water piped in from outside source; Central chillers; Packaged air conditioning units; Swamp coolers (evaporative coolers); Other type	Same as 1992	Same as 1992 AND Main equipment replaced since 1995	Same as 1992 AND Main equipment replaced since 1990 AND Heat pump types and sources same as for heating (see above)
Heating and Cooling Distribution System	Radiators or baseboards (heating only); Forced air through ducts or air handling units; Fan-coil units without ducts; Other type	Same as 1992 AND whether equipment designed to heat or cool directly	Not collected	Not collected
Refrigeration Equipment	Presence of commercial refrigerators or freezers	Same as 1992	Same as 1992	Presence of any refrigeration or freezer equipment (did not specify "commercial")
	Presence and number of: Walk-in units; Open cases or cabinets; Closed cases or cabinets	Same as 1992	Same as 1992	Same as 1992 AND Residential-type units; Refrigerated vending machines
	Linear feet of open and closed cases or cabinets	Not collected	Not collected	Not collected
Water Heating Equipment	Centralized system: With self-heating tank; Which draws heat from space heating equipment; Other centralized system Distributed or point-of-use system: With residential type storage tank; With instantaneous heaters at point of use; Other distributed system	Centralized system; Distributed or point-of-use system; Combination centralized and distributed Whether system uses heat pump water heater	Same as 1995 EXCEPT did not collect heat pump water heaters	Same as 1999
Lighted Floorspace	Percentage of floorspace lighted during operating hours (actual number or category)	Same as 1992	Same as 1992	Same as 1992
	Percentage of floorspace lighted during off hours (category only)	Same as 1992	Percentage of floorspace lighted during off hours (actual number or category)	Same as 1999
Lighting Equipment	Types of bulbs and percentage of floorspace lit by: Incandescent;Â Fluorescent other than compact fluorescent; Compact fluorescent; High intensity discharge (HID); Other type	Same as 1992 AND Halogen	Same as 1995	Same as 1995
Office Equipment	Number of personal computers and/or computer terminals category	Same as 1992	Number of personal computers (actual number or category); Actual number of photocopiers (excluding small desktop copiers); Presence of FAX machines; Presence of laser printers	Number of computers (actual number or category); Number of dedicated servers (actual number or category); Presence of flat screen monitors whether all, most, some or a few computers have them; Number of printers (actual number) and type of printer (inkjet or laser); Number of cash registers in retail, food sales, or food service buildings (actual); Number of photocopiers (actual); Presence of FAX machines
Medical Equipment	Not collected	Not collected	Equipment used for medical diagnosis or treatmentÂ	Same as 1999
Laboratory Equipment	Not collected	Not collected	Not collected	Presence of specialized laboratory equipment that requires extra energy consumption (asked only of certain building types)
Machine Equipment	Not collected	Not collected	Not collected	Presence of machine or shop equipment such as woodworking tools, metalworking tools, arc welders, or any other types of power tools (asked only of certain building types)
Indoor Swimming Pool	Not collected	Not collected	Not collected	Presence of indoor pool and if so, whether heated and by which energy source (asked only of certain building types)
Table 5. Selected Conservation Measures
	1992	1995	1999	2003
Lighting Conservation	Specular reflectors; Daylighting controls; Occupancy sensors; Time clocks or timed switches; Manual dimmer switches; Other lighting conservation equipment	Same as 1992 AND Energy-efficient ballasts	Specular reflectors; Electronic ballasts; Skylights or atriums (designed specifically to provide light)	Same as 1999 AND Automatic controls or sensors that increase or reduce lighting in response to level of natural light
	Sponsor of lighting conservation feature	Same as 1992	Not collected	Not collected
	Percent of lighted building space lighted by each feature listed above	Not collected	Not collected	Not collected
Insulation	Roof or ceiling insulation; Exterior wall insulation	Same as 1992	Not collected	Not collected
	Installed during construction or added (if added, year added)	Not collected	Not collected	Not collected
	Sponsor of building envelope conservation feature	Same as 1992	Not collected	Not collected
Windows	Storm windows or doors, thermal pane or double or triple paned glass	Same as 1992	Single paned windows; Multi-paned windows; Combination of both	Same as 1999
	Tinted or reflective glass or shading films	Same as 1992	Same as 1992 EXCEPT did not include shading films in question	Tinted window glass and Reflective window glass asked separately
	Exterior awnings or interior horizontal or vertical shades or miniblinds	Same as 1992	Not collected	Exterior overhangs or awnings
	Most windows open and close	Not collected	Not collected	Not collected
	Installed during construction or added (if added, year added).	Not collected	Not collected	Not collected
	Not collected	Sponsor of window conservation feature	Not collected	Not collected
Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC)	Variable air volume (VAV) system; Economizer cycle; Regularly scheduled maintenance and repair	Same as 1992	Same as 1992	Same as 1992
	Installed during construction or added (if added, year added)	Not collected	Not collected	Not collected
	Sponsor of HVAC conservation featureÂ	Same as 1992	Not collected	Not collected
Energy Audit	Whether performed AND sponsor	Same as 1992	Not collected	Not collected
Energy Management and Control System (EMCS)	Presence of EMCS	Same as 1992 AND sponsor	Same as 1992	Given as a choice of how heating or cooling is reduced when building not in full use (not asked unless heating or cooling is reduced)
	EMCS controls: Heating; Cooling; Domestic hot water heating; Lighting; Any other equipment	Not collected	Not collected	EMCS controls: Heating; Cooling; Lighting
Person with Day-to-Day Energy Responsibility	Building owner or manager; Custodian or maintenance engineer; Dedicated dnergy manager; Cleaning or maintenance contractor; Repair service upon need; Someone else	Presence of full-time building energy manager	Not collected	Not collected
	Length of service	Not collected	Not collected	Not collected
	Percent of time devoted to operating and maintaining HVAC equipment in building	Not collected	Not collected	Not collected
Other Conservation Features or Programs	Energy-efficient motors; Direct electricity load control; Thermal storage; Standby electricity generation; Process heating or cooling (waste heat recovery); Interruptible natural gas rate	Same as 1992 AND Special rates or incentives	Not collected	Not collected
	Sponsor of feature or program	Same as 1992	Not collected	Not collected
Reduction in Use During Off-Hours	Heating; Cooling; Hot water heating; Lighting; Other equipment	Heating; Cooling; Lighting	Heating; Cooling; Office equipment and computers	Same as 1999