Today the EPA released its second annual ranking of U.S. metropolitan areas with the largest number of buildings receiving the Energy Star label in 2009. California cities took two of the top three slots, but that's no surprise as these cities are at the forefront of green building.
Energy Star indicates that a building's energy performance is in the top 25% of buildings nationwide compared to similar buildings. Several types of buildings — schools, hospitals, offices, retail stores, supermarkets, etc — can receive the label.
Here's the list by number of projects (but see the comments below for a list by square footage):
- Los Angeles, CA, 293 buildings and 76 million square feet
- Washington, DC, 204 buildings and 55.1 million square feet
- San Francisco, CA, 173 buildings and 51.6 million square feet
- Denver, CO, 136 buildings and 31.5 million square feet
- Chicago, IL, 134 buildings and 59.9 million square feet
- Houston, TX, 133 buildings and 64 million square feet
- Lakeland, FL, 120 buildings and 11.5 million square feet
- Dallas-Fort Worth, TX, 113 buildings and 33.1 million square feet
- Atlanta, GA, 102 buildings and 29.6 million square feet
- New York, NY, 90 buildings and 50.4 million square feet
- Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN, 89 buildings and 34.5 million square feet
- Portland, OR, 80 buildings and 13.6 million square feet
- Boston, MA, 74 buildings and 28 million square feet
- Seattle, WA, 69 buildings and 20.1 million square feet
- Detroit, MI, 62 buildings and 12.9 million square feet
- Sacramento, CA, 61 buildings and 8.5 million square feet
- San Diego, CA, 58 buildings and 9.7 million square feet
- Austin, TX, 55 buildings and 8 million square feet
- Miami, FL, 54 buildings and 12.3 million square feet
- Phoenix, AZ, 52 buildings and 11.1 million square feet
- Ogden, UT, 51 buildings and 5.5 million square feet
- Charlotte, NC, 44 buildings and 4.7 million square feet
- Indianapolis, IN, 39 buildings and 8.2 million square feet
- Des Moines, IA, 36 buildings and 4.6 million square feet; Fort Collins, CO, 36 buildings and 2.5 million square feet; Philadelphia, PA, 36 buildings and 12.5 million square feet
- Louisville, KY, 35 buildings and 4.2 million square feet
According to the EPA, nearly 9,000 buildings in the nation received the Energy Star label in 2009. That's an increase of about 40% year over year.
I resorted the list by square feet. A better metric?
1 Los Angeles, CA, 293 buildings and 76 million square feet
2 Houston, TX, 133 buildings and 64 million square feet
3 Chicago, IL, 134 buildings and 59.9 million square feet
4 Washington, DC, 204 buildings and 55.1 million square feet
5 San Francisco, CA, 173 buildings and 51.6 million square feet
6 New York, NY, 90 buildings and 50.4 million square feet
7 Minneapolis-St.Paul, MN, 89 buildings and 34.5 million square feet
8 Dallas-Fort Worth, TX, 113 buildings and 33.1 million square feet
9 Denver, CO, 136 buildings and 31.5 million square feet
10 Atlanta, GA, 102 buildings and 29.6 million square feet
11 Boston, MA, 74 buildings and 28 million square feet
12 Seattle, WA, 69 buildings and 20.1 million square feet
13 Portland, OR, 80 buildings and 13.6 million square feet
14 Detroit, MI, 62 buildings and 12.9 million square feet
15 Philadelphia, PA, 36 buildings and 12.5 million square feet
16 Miami, FL, 54 buildings and 12.3 million square feet
17 Lakeland, FL, 120 buildings and 11.5 million square feet
18 Phoenix, AZ, 52 buildings and 11.1 million square feet
19 San Diego, CA, 58 buildings and 9.7 million square feet
20 Sacramento, CA, 61 buildings and 8.5 million square feet
21 Indianapolis, IN, 39 buildings and 8.2 million square feet
22 Austin, TX, 55 buildings and 8 million square feet
23 Ogden, UT, 51 buildings and 5.5 million square feet
24 Charlotte, NC, 44 buildings and 4.7 million square feet
25 Des Moines, IA, 36 buildings and 4.6 million square feet
*26 Louisville, KY, 35 buildings and 4.2 million square feet
*27 Fort Collins, CO, 36 buildings and 2.5 million square feet
I agree that the square footage is more important than the number of buildings.
I agree … it changes the list considerably.
Very creative guys. Helpful. Thanks.
i’m somewhat surprised to see LA top the list but given its size, i guess it’s not surprising. the green scene is certainly here but not nearly as active as it could be. the bay area in san francisco is way ahead of us, but this list is encouraging.
Good job! It’s good to see that so many buildings have already gone green!