U.S. Energy Information Administration logo
Skip to sub-navigation
‹ Consumption & Efficiency

Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS)

Glossary › FAQS ›

‹ BACK TO ALL 2012 CBECS TABLES

Table B26. Space-heating energy sources, number of buildings, 2012

Released: May 2016

Number of buildings (thousand)
Buildings with space heating Space-heating energy sources used (more than one may apply)
  All
buildings		 Elec-
tricity		 Natural
gas		 Fuel
oil		 District
heat		 Propane Other1
All buildings 5,557 4,722 2,858 2,612 270 48 342 101
Building floorspace (square feet)                
1,001 to 5,000 2,777 2,257 1,379 1,115 148 Q 180 48
5,001 to 10,000 1,229 1,046 606 595 49 Q 96 29
10,001 to 25,000 884 797 482 494 42 Q 51 Q
25,001 to 50,000 332 304 189 203 15 6 9 Q
50,001 to 100,000 199 187 123 121 9 10 Q Q
100,001 to 200,000 90 86 54 54 4 9 Q Q
200,001 to 500,000 38 36 21 25 2 5 Q Q
Over 500,000 8 8 4 4 (*) 2 Q Q
Principal building activity                
Education 389 379 214 203 21 12 16 Q
Food sales 177 160 123 63 Q N Q Q
Food service 380 359 202 207 Q Q 25 Q
Health care 157 153 92 85 6 2 Q Q
Inpatient 10 9 4 5 2 1 Q Q
Outpatient 147 144 87 80 Q Q Q Q
Lodging 158 153 116 64 Q 4 Q Q
Mercantile 602 572 387 324 35 Q 35 Q
Retail (other than mall) 438 412 250 216 32 Q 33 Q
Enclosed and strip malls 164 160 137 107 Q Q Q Q
Office 1,012 989 653 554 42 12 27 Q
Public assembly 352 330 162 187 Q 7 46 Q
Public order and safety 84 81 44 47 Q Q Q Q
Religious worship 412 408 231 217 Q N 63 Q
Service 619 528 270 329 70 Q 54 39
Warehouse and storage 796 420 264 235 Q Q 26 Q
Other 125 100 53 56 Q Q Q Q
Vacant 296 87 47 40 Q Q Q Q
Year constructed                
Before 1920 362 322 167 189 45 5 35 Q
1920 to 1945 488 413 190 263 33 7 Q Q
1946 to 1959 599 517 320 310 39 5 32 Q
1960 to 1969 639 559 308 357 52 9 27 Q
1970 to 1979 684 599 370 353 21 10 48 Q
1980 to 1989 915 754 513 383 19 2 36 Q
1990 to 1999 845 675 398 352 23 3 59 Q
2000 to 2003 375 322 202 153 21 4 33 Q
2004 to 2007 347 291 210 126 Q 2 25 Q
2008 to 2012 303 270 182 126 Q Q Q Q
Census region and division                
Northeast 805 727 310 392 170 16 59 Q
New England 302 264 99 82 105 Q 38 Q
Middle Atlantic 504 463 211 310 65 9 21 Q
Midwest 1,237 1,096 493 819 39 7 105 32
East North Central 735 670 282 559 20 3 29 Q
West North Central 502 426 211 260 19 4 76 Q
South 2,247 1,842 1,380 782 53 18 124 Q
South Atlantic 1,091 873 704 299 29 9 58 Q
East South Central 370 336 239 168 Q Q 35 Q
West South Central 786 633 437 316 Q 5 Q Q
West 1,267 1,057 676 618 Q 7 54 Q
Mountain 338 293 165 202 Q Q 24 Q
Pacific 929 764 511 416 Q 5 Q Q
Climate region2                
Very cold/Cold 2,031 1,792 814 1,198 192 18 156 75
Mixed-humid 1,743 1,545 1,009 826 70 20 135 Q
Mixed-dry/Hot-dry 837 676 445 361 Q 4 39 Q
Hot-humid 799 593 521 142 Q Q Q N
Marine 147 116 69 84 Q Q Q Q
Number of workers (main shift)                
Fewer than 5 2,892 2,184 1,217 1,126 171 Q 218 63
5 to 9 1,085 1,020 658 527 43 Q 55 Q
10 to 19 731 692 425 434 22 Q 40 Q
20 to 49 513 494 341 306 16 11 23 Q
50 to 99 206 203 141 134 11 7 Q Q
100 to 249 93 92 54 64 5 7 Q Q
250 or more 37 37 22 21 2 6 Q Q
Weekly operating hours                
Fewer than 40 1,149 815 448 416 45 Q 113 Q
40 to 48 1,346 1,230 751 674 87 7 72 Q
49 to 60 1,244 1,143 694 687 65 11 72 45
61 to 84 764 672 421 387 30 9 26 Q
85 to 167 479 414 258 232 Q 6 19 Q
Open continuously 575 448 287 217 28 11 39 Q
Ownership and occupancy                
Nongovernment owned 4,781 4,028 2,464 2,203 234 22 290 96
Owner occupied 2,466 2,198 1,264 1,162 145 13 202 72
Leased to tenant(s) 1,745 1,458 958 838 69 Q 67 Q
Owner occupied and leased 349 325 221 181 15 2 19 Q
Unoccupied 221 47 22 22 Q Q Q N
Government owned 776 694 394 409 36 26 52 Q
Federal 33 33 19 18 Q 1 Q Q
State 185 168 100 91 Q 18 Q Q
Local 558 493 275 300 32 7 38 Q
Energy sources
(more than one may apply)		                
Electricity 5,234 4,717 2,858 2,612 270 48 340 96
Natural gas 2,933 2,888 1,371 2,612 40 17 24 34
Fuel oil 467 455 211 133 270 10 45 25
District heat 48 48 12 2 Q 48 Q Q
District chilled water 54 51 27 10 Q 26 Q Q
Propane 510 491 268 59 60 Q 342 Q
Other 172 172 72 66 30 1 Q 101
Primary space-heating
energy source		                
Electricity 1,819 1,819 1,819 262 24 Q 49 Q
Natural gas 2,322 2,322 846 2,322 17 Q 11 Q
Fuel oil 205 205 57 Q 205 Q Q Q
District heat 47 47 12 2 Q 47 N Q
Propane 261 261 110 Q Q N 261 Q
Other 67 67 Q Q Q N Q 67
Cooling energy sources
(more than one may apply)		                
Electricity 4,413 4,226 2,677 2,390 177 23 275 62
Natural gas 12 12 5 12 Q Q N N
District chilled water 54 51 27 10 Q 26 Q Q
Water-heating energy sources
(more than one may apply)		                
Electricity 2,658 2,512 1,819 1,051 144 16 193 37
Natural gas 1,758 1,722 816 1,540 18 9 11 18
Fuel oil 77 76 23 6 67 Q Q Q
District heat 25 25 6 Q Q 25 N Q
Propane 142 133 77 Q Q Q 110 Q
Cooking energy sources
(more than one may apply)		            
Electricity 1,010 969 633 513 44 10 91 17
Natural gas 740 717 412 579 18 8 Q Q
Propane 144 132 75 Q 20 Q 67 Q
Energy end uses
(more than one may apply)		                
Buildings with space heating 4,722 4,722 2,858 2,612 270 48 342 101
Buildings with cooling 4,461 4,272 2,699 2,402 177 44 275 62
Buildings with water heating 4,423 4,237 2,569 2,424 222 45 307 71
Buildings with cooking 1,589 1,525 938 890 73 14 137 25
Buildings with manufacturing 259 234 145 141 Q Q Q Q
Buildings with electricity
generation		 410 400 239 225 36 15 37 Q
Percent of floorspace heated                
Not heated 835 N N N N N N N
1 to 50 697 697 484 285 47 Q 59 Q
51 to 99 727 727 463 420 36 7 55 Q
100 3,298 3,298 1,911 1,907 187 40 228 66
Heating equipment
(more than one may apply)		                
Heat pumps 628 628 611 188 18 3 26 Q
Furnaces 755 755 366 530 20 Q 72 Q
Individual space heaters 1,247 1,247 868 722 118 9 146 72
District heat 48 48 12 2 Q 48 Q Q
Boilers 544 544 225 390 85 Q 31 Q
Packaged heating units 2,802 2,802 1,785 1,717 116 3 181 30
Other 62 62 46 34 Q Q Q Q
1Other includes wood, coal, solar, and all other energy sources. The most commonly used other energy sources was waste oil.
2These climate regions were created by the Building America program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).
Q = Data withheld either because the Relative Standard Error (RSE) was greater than 50 percent or fewer than 20 buildings were sampled.
N = No cases in reporting sample.
(*) = Value rounds to zero in the units displayed.
Notes: • Because of rounding, data may not sum to totals. • See Guide to the 2012 CBECS Detailed Tables or CBECS Terminology for definition of terms used in these tables and/or comparison of differences with prior CBECS tables. Both references can be accessed from http://www.eia.gov/consumption/commercial/data/2012/
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Office of Energy Consumption and Efficiency Statistics, Form EIA-871A of the 2012 Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey.