Resource

Building Benchmarks

CBECS data in readable format

BuildingBenchmarks.com is a simple presentation of the latest CBECS data. Anyone can download the CBECS database files from the U.S. Department of Energy, but the raw data is not easily used. You could spend hours trying to understand the data file formats and link the various data fields together. BuildingBenchmarks.com is a user-friendly website that simplifies the data and displays it immediately. CBECS is public domain data compiled through the expenditure of your tax dollars.

CBECS, or “Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey,” and is compiled by the U.S. Department of Energy: CBECS is a national sample survey that collects information on the stock of U.S. commercial buildings, their energy-related building characteristics, and their energy consumption and expenditures. Commercial buildings include all buildings in which at least half of the floor space is used for a purpose that is not residential, industrial, or agricultural, so the survey includes building types that might not traditionally be considered ‘commercial,’ such as schools, correctional institutions, and buildings used for religious worship.