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Wednesday, April 26, 2023

Dallas, Houston and Austin Among EPA’s 2023 Top 20 Cities for ENERGY STAR Certified Buildings

 US EPA News Release:


Dallas, Houston and Austin Among EPA’s 2023 Top 20 Cities for ENERGY STAR Certified Buildings

DALLAS, TEXAS (April 26, 2023) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing its annual “Top Cities” list, spotlighting the cities with the greatest number of ENERGY STAR certified commercial and multifamily buildings in 2022. Coming in at first place for the fourth year in a row, Los Angeles leads with nearly 750 ENERGY STAR certified buildings. In second place is Washington, D.C. with 555 buildings, followed by Atlanta in third place with 376 buildings.

“In many cities, a majority of greenhouse gas emissions results from the energy used by buildings,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “I applaud this year’s top cities, as well as the owners and managers of each ENERGY STAR certified building in them, for taking real action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help America address the climate crisis.”

Commercial buildings are responsible for 16% of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions and spend more than $190 billion per year on energy. In many cities, buildings are the largest contributor of emissions — responsible for 30% to more than 70% of a city’s total emissions. ENERGY STAR certified buildings use an average of 35% less energy and are responsible for 35% less carbon dioxide emissions than typical buildings.

First released in 2009, EPA’s list of cities with the most ENERGY STAR certified buildings shows how buildings across America are embracing energy efficiency as a simple and effective way to save money and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. To create the annual list, EPA tallies the number of ENERGY STAR certified buildings within each metropolitan area, as defined by the U.S. Census, which includes the city itself as well as surrounding suburbs. EPA creates separate rankings for mid-sized and small cities. This year’s list includes buildings that earned EPA’s ENERGY STAR during the year 2022. This year’s Top Cities are:

Top 25 Cities Overall

Rank

Metro Area

Building Count

Last Year’s Rank

 

1

Los Angeles

748

1

 

2

Washington DC

555

2

3

Atlanta

376

3

4

San Francisco

343

4

5

New York

256

6

6

Riverside

230

18

6

Denver

230

8

8

Dallas

221

5

8

Chicago

221

7

10

Boston

205

10

11

Houston

195

9

12

Tampa

184

15

13

Seattle

180

13

14

San Diego

170

11

15

Austin

168

12

 

16

Minneapolis

156

14

17

Phoenix

131

16

18

San Jose

110

16

19

Charlotte

105

19

20

Miami

94

20

21

Sacramento

88

23

22

Philadelphia

76

22

23

Orlando

64

24

24

Portland

63

n/a

25

Raleigh

59

n/a

25

Cincinnati

59

25

 

 

 

 

 

Top 10 Mid-Sized Cities

Rank

Metro Area

Building Count

Last Year’s Rank

 

1

Raleigh, N.C.

59

3

2

Des Moines, Iowa

49

9

3

Provo, Utah

47

2

4

Grand Rapids, Mich.

37

n/a

5

Bakersfield, Calif.

35

n/a

5

Salt Lake City, Utah

35

8

5

Louisville, Ky.

35

4

8

Boulder, Colo.

31

6

8

Milwaukee, Wis.

31

n/a

10

Visalia, Calif.

27

n/a

 

 

 

 

 

Top 10 Small Cities

 

Rank

Metro Area

Building Count

Last Year’s Rank

1

Jackson, Mich.

41

1

2

Sioux City, Iowa

16

3

3

Punta Gorda, Fla.

13

n/a

4

Dubuque, Iowa

12

n/a

5

Saginaw, Mich

11

7

5

Carson City, Nev.

11

4

7

Elizabethtown, Ky.

10

4

7

Midland, Mich.

10

n/a

9

Owensboro, Ky.

9

n/a

10

Richmond-Berea, Ky

8

n/a

Across the country, more than 7,000 commercial buildings earned the EPA’s ENERGY STAR last year. As of the end of 2022, nearly 41,000 buildings across America have earned ENERGY STAR certification. Together, these buildings have saved $5.4 billion on energy bills and prevented more than 22 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions — equal to the annual emissions of more than 2.7 million homes. 

To earn the ENERGY STAR, a commercial building must achieve an ENERGY STAR score of 75 or higher on EPA’s 1 – 100 scale, indicating that it is more energy efficient than 75% of similar buildings nationwide. A building’s ENERGY STAR score is calculated based on a number of factors, including energy use, hours of operation, and a variety of other operating characteristics.

About ENERGY STAR

ENERGY STAR® is the government-backed symbol for energy efficiency, providing simple, credible, and unbiased information that consumers and businesses rely on to make well-informed decisions. Thousands of industrial, commercial, utility, state, and local organizations — including nearly 40% of the Fortune 500® — rely on their partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to deliver cost-saving energy efficiency solutions. Since 1992, ENERGY STAR and its partners helped American families and businesses avoid more than $500 billion in energy costs and achieve 4 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas reductions. 

Connect with the Environmental Protection Agency Region 6 on FacebookTwitter, or visit our homepage.

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