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Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey
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The Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS) datasets include edited building-level data collected through the CBECS Building Survey (EIA-871A), Mall Building Survey (EIA-871I), Mall Establishment Survey (EIA-871J), and Energy Supplier Surveys (EIA-871C-F). CBECS is designed to provide a reference year snapshot of energy consumption and expenditures in the commercial buildings sector of the economy. CBECS also provides the number and square footage of U.S. commercial buildings by various energy-related building characteristics. CBECS data are widely used by policymakers, energy modelers, and industry as a baseline or benchmark of the U.S. commercial building stock, often by building type. CBECS is not a longitudinal study. Researchers are advised to use CBECS data for cross-sectional studies and not as a time series since the sample, study design, questionnaire, and statistical processes differ across survey cycles. Researchers are encouraged to consult each cycle’s documentation for more information. Most information collected on CBECS is available in a public use microdata file with disclosure protections applied so individual respondents are not identifiable. Research applications may include a combination of variables from both the non-public and public use microdata files. Public use microdata file may be helpful in evaluating subpopulation sample sizes prior to submitting a research application.
Download supplemental documentation such as codebooks.
DownloadDetailed Methodology
No comprehensive list of U.S. commercial buildings currently exists, so EIA must construct its own sampling frame. Most of this sampling frame is called the area frame, which is created through multi-stage area probability sampling followed by listing all commercial buildings in the smallest selected geographic areas. The other parts of the sampling frame are list frames composed of five different administrative lists of large buildings. EIA sorted buildings into subgroups with similar qualities by area or list frame type, primary sampling units, secondary sampling units, building size, and building type. The number of sampled buildings within each subgroup was calculated to minimize the variance of estimated energy consumption, subject to total sample size and overall budget constraints. For more information the 2018 CBECS frame and sample, see methodological documentation available at https://www.eia.gov/consumption/commercial/data/2018/index.php?view=methodology. For a summary of survey frame and sample changes across CBECS survey cycles, see https://www.eia.gov/consumption/commercial/pdf/Comparison%20across%20CBECS%20surveys%20-%20Table%201.pdf, or visit the Data webpage for each reference year and select the Methodology tab.
- Survey (self- or interviewer-administered)
- Irregular
- Last year/last 12 months
CBECS survey questionnaires and data collection modes differ across survey cycles. EIA conducted the 2018 CBECS Building Survey using in-person interviews, self-administered online (web) collection, and telephone interviews. Interviewers, who visited all buildings at least once to screen for eligibility and to find a knowledgeable respondent, offered respondents collection mode options. All buildings responding to the Buildings Survey were eligible for the Energy Supplier Survey (ESS). ESS respondents could submit online or by mail. For more information on how EIA collects CBECS data, see https://www.eia.gov/consumption/commercial/reports/2018/data-collection-buildings.php. For information on survey questionnaires and data collection changes across survey cycles, see Comparisons across surveys from the 1992 CBECS through the 2018 CBECS, available at https://www.eia.gov/consumption/commercial/comparison-between-years.php. CBECS survey questionnaires are available at https://www.eia.gov/survey/#eia-871.