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

Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS)

‹ BACK TO ALL 2012 CBECS TABLES

Table B29. Primary space-heating energy sources, floorspace, 2012

Released: May 2016

Total floorspace (million square feet)
Buildings with space heating Primary space-heating energy source used1
  All
buildings
Electricity Natural
gas
Fuel oil District
heat
All buildings 87,093 80,078 26,205 42,988 2,542 5,797
Building floorspace (square feet)            
1,001 to 5,000 8,041 6,699 2,766 3,050 329 Q
5,001 to 10,000 8,900 7,590 2,865 3,802 280 Q
10,001 to 25,000 14,105 12,744 4,433 6,957 509 Q
25,001 to 50,000 11,917 10,911 3,871 6,174 Q 213
50,001 to 100,000 13,918 13,114 4,892 6,844 413 704
100,001 to 200,000 12,415 11,941 3,646 6,624 348 1,283
200,001 to 500,000 10,724 10,348 2,129 6,487 Q 1,472
Over 500,000 7,074 6,730 1,603 3,050 Q 1,956
Principal building activity            
Education 12,239 12,099 2,972 7,188 649 1,096
Food sales 1,252 1,196 461 630 Q N
Food service 1,819 1,762 695 892 Q Q
Health care 4,155 4,109 818 2,416 175 656
Inpatient 2,374 2,354 160 1,517 Q 550
Outpatient 1,781 1,754 658 900 Q Q
Lodging 5,826 5,696 2,814 2,086 Q 594
Mercantile 11,330 10,794 3,901 6,337 Q Q
Retail (other than mall) 5,439 5,088 1,820 2,736 Q Q
Enclosed and strip malls 5,890 5,706 2,081 3,601 Q Q
Office 15,952 15,753 6,053 7,445 296 1,772
Public assembly 5,559 5,323 1,184 2,820 Q 883
Public order and safety 1,440 1,391 Q 747 Q Q
Religious worship 4,557 4,511 1,472 2,482 Q N
Service 4,630 4,157 981 2,247 254 Q
Warehouse and storage 13,077 9,987 3,556 5,855 Q Q
Other 2,002 1,886 522 1,155 Q Q
Vacant 3,256 1,415 506 687 Q Q
Year constructed            
Before 1920 3,983 3,583 574 1,795 Q 523
1920 to 1945 6,025 5,527 1,212 2,961 323 888
1946 to 1959 7,381 6,895 1,414 4,453 378 439
1960 to 1969 10,362 9,730 2,394 5,802 292 995
1970 to 1979 10,846 10,045 2,988 5,484 Q 930
1980 to 1989 15,230 13,723 5,760 6,868 Q 441
1990 to 1999 13,803 12,389 4,634 6,478 258 534
2000 to 2003 7,215 6,707 2,543 3,395 Q Q
2004 to 2007 6,524 5,972 2,543 2,845 Q Q
2008 to 2012 5,723 5,505 2,142 2,908 Q Q
Census region and division            
Northeast 15,534 15,053 2,188 8,366 1,988 1,954
New England 4,302 4,090 468 1,811 1,099 Q
Middle Atlantic 11,232 10,963 1,720 6,555 889 1,601
Midwest 18,919 18,055 2,982 13,084 Q 864
East North Central 12,742 12,240 1,702 9,587 Q 532
West North Central 6,178 5,815 1,281 3,497 Q 332
South 34,279 30,499 15,118 12,312 299 2,112
South Atlantic 17,981 15,883 8,533 5,694 245 1,089
East South Central 4,904 4,692 1,982 2,067 Q Q
West South Central 11,394 9,923 4,604 4,551 Q 637
West 18,360 16,471 5,917 9,226 Q 867
Mountain 4,981 4,704 1,122 2,893 Q 482
Pacific 13,379 11,767 4,794 6,333 Q 385
Climate region2            
Very cold/Cold 31,898 30,469 4,771 20,554 1,623 1,884
Mixed-humid 27,873 26,716 9,282 12,884 919 2,916
Mixed-dry/Hot-dry 12,037 10,484 4,600 5,252 N Q
Hot-humid 12,831 10,090 6,969 2,710 N 362
Marine 2,454 2,319 583 1,588 N Q
Number of workers (main shift)            
Fewer than 5 17,751 12,931 4,326 6,471 831 Q
5 to 9 8,973 8,492 3,673 3,941 185 Q
10 to 19 9,623 8,970 3,380 4,804 Q Q
20 to 49 14,514 14,126 4,997 7,987 Q 623
50 to 99 13,476 13,184 4,367 7,604 488 610
100 to 249 10,941 10,805 2,446 6,863 316 1,091
250 or more 11,815 11,570 3,015 5,317 Q 3,015
Weekly operating hours            
Fewer than 40 8,220 5,763 1,746 3,060 293 Q
40 to 48 15,828 14,867 5,065 8,184 755 381
49 to 60 20,529 19,365 6,696 10,341 472 1,099
61 to 84 15,867 15,148 5,020 8,585 512 769
85 to 167 9,395 8,711 2,280 5,455 Q 624
Open continuously 17,253 16,224 5,397 7,363 405 2,752
Ownership and occupancy            
Nongovernment owned 67,550 61,341 22,225 32,258 1,658 3,076
Owner occupied 30,637 28,745 9,948 14,409 976 1,793
Leased to tenant(s) 26,115 23,766 9,250 12,976 426 730
Owner occupied and leased 8,873 8,328 2,842 4,592 Q 547
Unoccupied 1,925 502 Q 280 Q Q
Government owned 19,543 18,736 3,980 10,730 884 2,721
Federal 1,573 1,557 Q 593 Q 697
State 5,539 5,411 983 2,717 Q 1,445
Local 12,431 11,768 2,785 7,420 656 579
Energy sources
(more than one may apply)
           
Electricity 84,869 80,053 26,205 42,988 2,542 5,797
Natural gas 58,725 58,129 11,549 42,988 410 2,791
Fuel oil 20,200 19,670 4,651 9,022 2,542 2,991
District heat 5,964 5,962 Q Q Q 5,797
District chilled water 4,608 4,561 418 437 N 3,698
Propane 7,706 7,332 1,765 2,300 921 Q
Other 3,826 3,826 730 1,948 Q 276
Energy end uses
(more than one may apply)
           
Buildings with space heating 80,078 80,078 26,205 42,988 2,542 5,797
Buildings with cooling 79,294 76,834 25,613 41,435 1,984 5,736
Buildings with water heating 79,015 76,584 24,862 41,377 2,362 5,655
Buildings with cooking 38,546 37,771 11,243 21,175 1,261 3,017
Buildings with manufacturing 5,078 4,790 1,456 2,969 Q Q
Buildings with electricity
generation
25,642 25,155 6,392 13,940 720 3,613
Percent of floorspace heated            
Not heated 7,015 N N N N N
1 to 50 10,130 10,130 5,013 4,123 Q Q
51 to 99 14,650 14,650 4,903 7,919 319 1,067
100 55,298 55,298 16,289 30,946 1,767 4,614
Heating equipment
(more than one may apply)
           
Heat pumps 11,846 11,846 7,215 3,792 Q 464
Furnaces 8,654 8,654 2,270 5,778 Q Q
Individual space heaters 20,766 20,766 6,035 11,482 1,008 1,271
District heat 5,925 5,925 Q Q Q 5,797
Boilers 22,443 22,443 2,982 17,437 1,504 Q
Packaged heating units 49,188 49,188 18,523 27,826 757 650
Other 1,574 1,574 447 873 Q Q
1Additionally, buildings comprising 1,948 million square feet used propane and buildings comprising 598 million square feet used wood, coal, or some other energy source for primary space heating.
2
These 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.
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.