DC Takes Top Spot on Top 25 Energy Star Buildings List

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2015_ENERGY_STAR_Top_cities_Energy ManageAfter coming in second to Los Angeles for five consecutive years, Washington DC, has taken the top spot on the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) seventh-annual list of the top 25 US metropolitan areas with the most Energy Star certified buildings in 2014. Los Angeles took the number two ranking, followed by Atlanta, New York and San Francisco.

Houston bumped Denver out of the number eight ranking, and Boston made its way into the top 10 after last year’s number 13 ranking.

More than 25,000 buildings across America have earned EPA’s Energy Star certification since 1999, saving a combined total of nearly $3.4 billion on utility bills.

Energy Star certified buildings are verified to perform better than 75 percent of similar buildings nationwide, and they use an average of 35 percent less energy and are responsible for 35 percent fewer emissions than typical buildings.

The top 25 cities ranking, based on number of Energy Star qualified buildings in 2014, include the following:

  1. Washington, DC
  2. Los Angeles, California
  3. Atlanta, Georgia
  4. New York, New York
  5. San Francisco, California
  6. Chicago, Illinois
  7. Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas
  8. Houston, Texas
  9. Denver, Colorado
  10. Boston, Massachusetts
  11. Phoenix, Arizona
  12. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  13. Seattle, Washington
  14. Riverside, California
  15. Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota
  16. Charlotte, North Carolina
  17. San Diego, California
  18. Miami, Florida
  19. Sacramento, California
  20. Virginia Beach, California
  21. Detroit, Michigan
  22. San Jose, California
  23. Austin, Texas; Portland, Oregon (tie)
  24. Louisville, Kentucky; Tampa, Florida (tie)
  25. Salt Lake City, Utah

To create the annual top cities list, EPA tallies the number of Energy Star certified buildings for that particular year within each metropolitan area, as defined by the US Census. These areas include the city itself as well as surrounding towns and suburbs.

Environment + Energy Leader