Energy-Related Changes in Education Buildings Following the COVID-19 Pandemic Posting

Release date: December 10, 2024

We conducted an exploratory, web-only survey to learn about changes to commercial buildings brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. The results will inform questionnaire development for the next Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS).

Although the survey results do not represent all commercial buildings or all education buildings, we found patterns in the data related to education buildings, which account for 48 of the 271 buildings in our responding sample. We found that education buildings in our responding sample, more so than other commercial buildings, made changes to HVAC equipment related to ventilation and took measures to increase air quality. We also observed changes in the use of exterior space, such as the addition of outdoor learning spaces.

We released a similar report about office buildings.