PHILADELPHIA (June 27, 2022) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently issued its annual “Top Cities” list for 2021 spotlighting the cities with the greatest number of ENERGY STAR certified commercial and multi-family buildings. The District Columbia came in second nationally for large cities with 498 ENERGY STAR Buildings, Los Angeles leads the pack with nearly 648.
“Congratulations to the District of Columbia for meeting ENERGY STAR certification criteria in nearly 500 buildings,” said EPA Mid-Atlantic Administrator Adam Ortiz. “Ranking Number Two in the nation is a huge accomplishment, and this certification signifies tremendous achievements in reducing energy costs, increasing efficiency, and cutting carbon emissions that contribute to climate change.”
Commercial buildings are responsible for 18% of the nation’s energy use and cost customers $190 billion per year on energy bills. ENERGY STAR certified buildings use an average of 35% less energy and are responsible for 35% less carbon dioxide emissions than typical buildings.
To create the annual list, EPA tallies the number of ENERGY STAR certified buildings within each metropolitan area, as defined by the U.S. Census, and creates separate rankings for mid-sized and small cities. These areas include the city itself as well as surrounding suburbs. This year’s list includes buildings that earned EPA’s ENERGY STAR certification during the year 2021.
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Top 5 Cities Overall Rank Metro Area Building Count Last Year’s Rank 1 Los Angeles 648 1 
2 Washington DC 498 2 3 Atlanta 342 4  4 San Francisco 332 3 5 Dallas 286 8 |
Across the country, more than 6,000 commercial buildings earned the EPA’s ENERGY STAR last year.
More background information about ENERGY STAR Top Cities, including this year’s ranking of top small and mid-sized cities, as well as last year’s rankings: www.energystar.gov/topcities.
To learn more about earning the ENERGY STAR certification for commercial buildings: www.energystar.gov/buildingcertification.
