The 2030 Challenge asks that new buildings, developments, and major renovations be designed to meet a fossil fuel, greenhouse gas (GHG) emitting, energy consumption performance standard of 50 percent of the regional average for that building type. The 50 percent site energy use intensity (EUI or the building load) averages for commercial buildings (some 60 percent of all commercial types) can be found on EPA’s Target Finder. For other commercial building types not found in Target Finder and for housing, Architecture 2030 recommends using the national average (unless regional data is available), which can be found on the Architecture 2030 Web site (which includes the building types listed in the table below and some residential references). These data sets have been recognized as useful benchmarks by Architecture 2030, ASHRAE, AIA, and the USGBC, among others.

To achieve aggressive goals such as 50 percent fossil fuel reductions, design teams need to know what levels of performance to strive towards. And to arrive at this point, they first need to know how much energy an average building uses—one that is similar in size, number of users, function, location and other parameters.

To utilize performance targets is to go beyond building codes, and capture the integrated effect of building strategies, efficient equipment, operating schedules, and connected systems. DOE’s CBECS database surveys existing building stock every four years, and contains raw information that can be overwhelming to digest and use effectively. EPA’s energy performance rating addresses this by applying mathematical analyses and a user interface to create a practical resource.

What’s inside CBECS, though? More than 5,000 commercial buildings were surveyed in 2003, which statistically represents the country’s building stock of more than 4.9 million buildings or more than 71,000 billion square feet (see region, space type, and other splits here). The survey asks respondents for details on building energy sources and consumption, energy-using equipment, and selected conservation measures.

While some space types lack significant statistics to be supported as official benchmarks in Target Finder, CBECS can still show many national averages:


Building Use Description Available in Target Finder Average Source EUI (kBtu/sf) Average Percent Electric Average Site EUI (kBtu/sf)
Self-storage 10.9 44% 4.0
Non-refrigerated warehouse X 64.6 64% 30.8
Religious worship 77.5 52% 45.9
Distribution/shipping center 82.9 61% 44.2
Vehicle repair/service/storage 96.6 64% 50.7
Medical Office X 123.1 64% 59.3
Post office/postal center 131.9 58% 63.5
Dormitory/fraternity/sorority X 136.9 32% 89.9
Fire station/police station 145.7 56% 77.9
K-12 School X 153.2 64% 74.7
Preschool/daycare 155.3 60% 75.0
Retail store 158.3 67% 72.2
Administrative/Professional & Government Office X 166.0 64% 76.3
Hotel, Motel or inn X 187.1 67% 88.5
Clinic/other outpatient health 199.0 76% 84.2
Nursing home/assisted living 234.8 54% 124.3
Bank X 271.0 79% 109.1
Refrigerated warehouse X 323.2 85% 127.2
Hospital/inpatient health X 427.4 48% 227.5
Grocery store/food market X 560.4 82% 213.1
Restaurant/cafeteria 565.7 53% 301.6
Convenience store (with or without gas station) 681.1 90% 241.4
Fast food 1,195.0 64% 534.3
*CBECS 2003

There are still questions about how the CBECS data set is best used, both by practitioners seeking to measure their work against it and more generally. (For example, the data is sometimes represented in the aggregate, which can be very misleading). There is a clear need for larger datasets sorted by both building type and region. There is also a need for more usable residential data.

Ongoing discussions are addressing these issues and others, such as how to measure and differentiate between site and source energy, the issue of embodied energy in existing buildings, and more. AIA/COTE is continuing to track this issue, recognizing the importance of well-researched and supported benchmarks as a part of broader, industry-wide discussions about sustainability goals. Many activities are ongoing surrounding these questions. For example, AIA’s CEO Chris McEntee has been hosting meetings to form a green coalition on green building and sustainable community design. AIA/COTE fully supports this collaboration and is tracking their progress.

We are also watching related efforts, such as the New Buildings Institute’s Getting to 50 Percent, a conference being held in March. They are bringing together many industry experts including people from AIA, ASHRAE, BuildingGreen, USGBC, and other groups to generate critical alliances among design professions, federal and state agencies, utilities, researchers, and other advocates to identify policy, research, program, and implementation strategies that support major reductions in building energy use, and consequent carbon emissions. The issue of metrics and benchmarks will be one element of that discussion.

This also relates to the AIA/USGBC/ASHRAE/IESNA collaboration, begun last year, towards a standard for high performance green buildings that would apply to all buildings except low-rise residential buildings (Standard 189). The standard will address sustainable sites; water use efficiency; energy efficiency; the building’s impact on the atmosphere, materials, and resources; and indoor environmental quality (read more about this here and here).

Jared Silliker lives in Seattle and works as an associate at The Cadmus Group, an environmental consulting firm. He works with the architecture community to encourage high-performance building designs and also writes about the green building industry. Kira Gould, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP, is the 2007 chair of AIA/COTE. She works for Gould Evans, a 250-person design firm with eight offices in the United States, the newest of which is in Boston.

Copyright 2007 The American Institute of Architects

This article was originally posted 5/22/07.