Los Angeles leads the pack for the second year in a row in the list of U.S. metropolitan areas with the largest number of energy efficient buildings that earned EPA’s Energy Star in 2009, according to he U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
This year, Los Angeles is followed by Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Denver, Chicago, Houston, Lakeland, Dallas-Fort Worth, Atlanta and New York. Lakeland and New York City are new to the top 10. EPA first issued its ranking of cities with the most Energy Star labeled buildings last year.
Continuing the growth of the past several years, in 2009 nearly 3,900 commercial buildings earned the Energy Star, representing annual savings of more than $900 million in utility bills and more than 4.7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
Nearly 9,000 buildings across America have earned the Energy Star as of the end of 2009, representing more than a 40 percent increase over last year’s total. Overall annual utility savings total nearly $1.6 billion and greenhouse gas emissions equal to the emissions of more than 1 million homes a year have been prevented.
EPA awards the Energy Star to commercial buildings that perform in the top 25 percent of buildings nationwide compared to similar buildings. Thirteen types of buildings can earn the Energy Star, including schools, hospitals, office buildings, retail stores and supermarkets.
