Does Your City Make the Energy Star Cut?

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released today the annual list of metropolitan cities with the most Energy Star certified buildings for 2011.  To earn EPA’s Energy Star, commercial buildings must perform in the top 25 percent of similar buildings nationwide and must be independently verified by a licensed professional engineer or a registered architect.

EPA first released the list in 2008.  For the third year in a row, Los Angeles topped the annual list.  Washington D.C. and Atlanta rounded out the top three.  California had the most cities in the top 25, with six cities – Los Angeles, San Francisco, Riverside, Sacramento, San Diego and San Jose.

According to EPA, energy use in commercial buildings accounts for nearly 20 percent of the U.S. greenhouse gas emissions at a cost of more than $100 billion per year.  Energy Star buildings use 35 percent less energy and are responsible for 35 percent less carbon dioxide emissions than typical buildings.  EPA calculated Los Angeles’ annual cost saving from having Energy Star compliant commercial buildings at $149.8 million.