A new study released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration reveals that the average size of new commercial buildings continue to grow. Size increases continued to outpace increases in the number of buildings over the past decade.
The data, documented in the administration’s Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS), estimates that there were 5.6 million commercial buildings in the United States in 2012, totaling 87 billion sf of floor space. This is a 14% increase in floor space since 2003, the last time CBECS results were recorded.
Newer buildings tend to be larger than older buildings. In particular, healthcare buildings, hospitality buildings, retail, and religious worship buildings today are larger.
When broken up by region, the South experienced a lot of growth in building size, and the region’s share of buildings far exceeds its share of the U.S. population.
More information can be found on the Energy Information Administration’s website.
Related Stories
| Oct 6, 2011
GREENBUILD 2011: Growing green building market supports 661,000 green jobs in the U.S.
Green jobs are already an important part of the construction labor workforce, and signs are that they will become industry standard.
| Oct 6, 2011
GREENBUILD 2011: NEXT Living EcoSuite showcased
Tridel teams up with Cisco and Control4 to unveil the future of green condo living in Canada.
| Oct 6, 2011
GREENBUILD 2011: Kingspan Insulated Panels spotlights first-of-its-kind Environmental Product Declaration
Updates to Path to NetZero.
| Oct 5, 2011
GREENBUILD 2011: Johnson Controls announces Panoptix, a new approach to building efficiency
Panoptix combines latest technology, new business model and industry-leading expertise to make building efficiency easier and more accessible to a broader market.
| Oct 5, 2011
GREENBUILD 2011: Software an architectural game changer
Interactive modeling software transforms the designbuild process.
| Oct 5, 2011
GREENBUILD 2011: Tile manufacturer attains third-party certification for waste recycling processes
Crossville has joined with TOTO to recycle that company’s pre-consumer fired sanitary ware.
| Oct 5, 2011
GREENBUILD 2011: Roof hatch designed for energy efficiency
The cover features a specially designed EPDM finger-type gasket that ensures a positive seal with the curb to reduce air permeability and ensure energy performance.
| Oct 4, 2011
GREENBUILD 2011
Click here for the latest news and products from Greenbuild 2011, Oct. 4-7, in Toronto.
| Oct 4, 2011
GREENBUILD 2011: Methods, impacts, and opportunities in the concrete building life cycle
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Concrete Sustainability Hub conducted a life-cycle assessment (LCA) study to evaluate and improve the environmental impact and study how the “dual use” aspect of concrete.
| Oct 4, 2011
GREENBUILD 2011: Johnsonite features sustainable products
Products include rubber flooring tiles, treads, wall bases, and more.
