EPA’s Top 25

The EPA has released the second annual list of American cities with the highest number of Energy Star rated buildings. To become Energy Star certified a building must perform in the top 25% of other similar buildings. Since 1999, almost 9000 buildings have received an Energy Star rating, with total energy savings totaling $1.6 billion and greenhouse gasses have been drastically reduced. These 9000 buildings have caused the greenhouse gas emissions equal to 1 million homes to be prevented per year! The list is sorted by number of Energy Star rated buildings, with LA in the lead with 293 buildings and Washington a close second with 204 buildings. Here is the total list:
1. Los Angeles, CA, 293 buildings and 76 million square feet
2. Washington, DC, 204 buildings and 55.1 million square feet
3. San Francisco, CA, 173 buildings and 51.6 million square feet
4. Denver, CO, 136 buildings and 31.5 million square feet
5. Chicago, IL, 134 buildings and 59.9 million square feet
6. Houston, TX, 133 buildings and 64 million square feet
7. Lakeland, FL, 120 buildings and 11.5 million square feet
8. Dallas-Fort Worth, TX, 113 buildings and 33.1 million square feet
9. Atlanta, GA, 102 buildings and 29.6 million square feet
10. New York, NY, 90 buildings and 50.4 million square feet
11. Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN, 89 buildings and 34.5 million square feet
12. Portland, OR, 80 buildings and 13.6 million square feet
13. Boston, MA, 74 buildings and 28 million square feet
14. Seattle, WA, 69 buildings and 20.1 million square feet
15. Detroit, MI, 62 buildings and 12.9 million square feet
16. Sacramento, CA, 61 buildings and 8.5 million square feet
17. San Diego, CA, 58 buildings and 9.7 million square feet
18. Austin, TX, 55 buildings and 8 million square feet
19. Miami, FL, 54 buildings and 12.3 million square feet
20. Phoenix, AZ, 52 buildings and 11.1 million square feet
21. Ogden, UT, 51 buildings and 5.5 million square feet
22. Charlotte, NC, 44 buildings and 4.7 million square feet
23. Indianapolis, IN, 39 buildings and 8.2 million square feet
24. Des Moines, IA, 36 buildings and 4.6 million square feet; Fort Collins, CO, 36 buildings and 2.5 million square feet; Philadelphia, PA, 36 buildings and 12.5 million square feet
25. Louisville, KY, 35 buildings and 4.2 million square feet
To all the cities on this list, congratulations! You’re really helping do your part to make this world a greener place!