Release date: April 2015

Revised date: May 2016

Walk-in 

units

Open 

cases or 

cabinets

Closed 

cases or 

cabinets

Large cold

storage

areas

Commercial

ice

makers

Residentialtype or

compact

units

Vending

machines

All buildings 5,557 3,984 811 295 826 78 846 3,388 960

Building floorspace (square feet)

1,001 to 5,000 2,777 1,815 344 103 344 Q 279 1,520 182

5,001 to 10,000 1,229 903 150 57 163 Q 172 791 167

10,001 to 25,000 884 688 116 48 130 Q 147 585 236

25,001 to 50,000 332 276 60 23 68 Q 82 239 153

50,001 to 100,000 199 177 73 29 60 9 90 150 117

100,001 to 200,000 90 82 40 20 35 6 44 68 66

200,001 to 500,000 38 35 22 13 20 4 25 29 31

Over 500,000 8 8 5 3 4 1 6 7 7

Principal building activity

Education 389 277 80 21 71 Q 68 229 97

Food sales 177 175 145 74 126 19 85 58 44

Food service 380 380 293 72 233 Q 259 201 42

Health care 157 142 9 6 15 1 18 139 36

 Inpatient 10 10 8 3 5 1 9 9 9

 Outpatient 147 132 Q Q 9 Q 9 131 27

Lodging 158 144 37 4 32 Q 61 126 68

Mercantile 602 500 149 83 181 19 113 417 173

Retail (other than mall) 438 338 47 18 76 Q 21 265 76

Enclosed and strip malls 164 162 102 66 105 11 91 152 97

Office 1,012 816 23 10 39 Q 72 788 179

Public assembly 352 268 28 15 48 Q 51 243 48

Public order and safety 84 78 Q Q Q Q 21 71 24

Religious worship 412 351 Q Q 36 Q 39 330 12

Service 619 415 Q N Q N Q 384 118

Warehouse and storage 796 314 19 Q 11 12 29 286 90

Other 125 82 7 Q 8 Q 6 77 21

Vacant 296 44 Q Q Q N Q 37 Q

Year constructed

Before 1920 362 257 44 18 54 Q 32 233 23

1920 to 1945 488 344 53 18 74 Q 45 296 47

1946 to 1959 599 433 71 24 72 Q 75 377 89

1960 to 1969 639 476 101 36 98 9 100 410 138

1970 to 1979 684 498 115 36 96 7 101 427 135

1980 to 1989 915 626 132 40 123 17 147 528 169

1990 to 1999 845 595 132 42 139 14 160 481 149

2000 to 2003 375 280 63 28 60 3 59 234 82

2004 to 2007 347 255 52 27 50 9 53 217 66

2008 to 2012 303 220 48 26 61 Q 74 185 62

Table B45. Refrigeration equipment, number of buildings, 2012

Number of buildings (thousand)

Buildings

with any

refrigeration

equipment

Type of refrigeration equipment (more than one may apply)

All

buildings
Walk-in 

units

Open 

cases or 

cabinets

Closed 

cases or 

cabinets

Large cold

storage

areas

Commercial

ice

makers

Residentialtype or

compact

units

Vending

machines

All buildings 5,557 3,984 811 295 826 78 846 3,388 960

Table B45. Refrigeration equipment, number of buildings, 2012

Number of buildings (thousand)

Buildings

with any

refrigeration

equipment

Type of refrigeration equipment (more than one may apply)

All

buildings

Census region and division

Northeast 805 593 139 51 155 12 101 511 135

New England 302 212 59 16 64 Q 36 186 47

Middle Atlantic 504 381 81 35 91 11 64 325 88

Midwest 1,237 898 175 53 190 14 167 795 194

East North Central 735 566 113 38 121 9 111 495 117

West North Central 502 332 62 16 68 Q 55 300 77

South 2,247 1,630 332 125 313 33 412 1,342 436

South Atlantic 1,091 789 180 71 167 19 216 640 220

East South Central 370 311 51 23 59 Q 77 261 89

West South Central 786 530 100 32 87 7 119 441 126

West 1,267 864 166 65 169 19 166 740 195

Mountain 338 222 43 17 44 Q 49 185 51

Pacific 929 641 122 48 125 14 118 554 145

Climate region1

Very cold/Cold 2,031 1,427 295 89 326 26 266 1,250 321

Mixed-humid 1,743 1,313 272 114 274 27 311 1,091 327

Mixed-dry/Hot-dry 837 575 90 41 94 10 100 498 130

Hot-humid 799 566 126 41 107 12 142 455 157

Marine 147 104 28 10 Q Q 25 94 25

Number of floors

One 3,836 2,602 553 212 540 50 541 2,176 563

Two 1,158 915 151 49 165 20 183 800 235

Three 374 301 59 16 74 Q 60 267 78

Four to nine 177 154 43 15 40 4 54 135 75

Ten or more 13 12 6 3 6 (*) 7 10 10

Number of workers (main shift)

Fewer than 5 2,892 1,697 229 73 282 Q 232 1,449 195

5 to 9 1,085 899 169 66 185 Q 167 764 169

10 to 19 731 632 150 43 134 Q 160 532 159

20 to 49 513 445 139 57 118 14 141 379 205

50 to 99 206 190 75 30 55 8 80 162 132

100 to 249 93 86 34 17 36 7 43 72 69

250 or more 37 35 16 9 16 2 23 30 31

Weekly operating hours

Fewer than 40 1,149 604 32 Q 60 Q 60 576 27

40 to 48 1,346 986 65 24 72 Q 87 916 178

49 to 60 1,244 965 96 24 129 8 137 877 250

61 to 84 764 624 238 88 237 30 205 486 226

85 to 167 479 409 243 89 221 19 190 226 127

Open continuously 575 395 136 59 107 12 167 307 151
Walk-in 

units

Open 

cases or 

cabinets

Closed 

cases or 

cabinets

Large cold

storage

areas

Commercial

ice

makers

Residentialtype or

compact

units

Vending

machines

All buildings 5,557 3,984 811 295 826 78 846 3,388 960

Table B45. Refrigeration equipment, number of buildings, 2012

Number of buildings (thousand)

Buildings

with any

refrigeration

equipment

Type of refrigeration equipment (more than one may apply)

All

buildings

Campus or complex activity

Not part of a campus or complex 3,683 2,864 618 223 611 62 616 2,406 629

Primary or secondary school 237 114 45 12 32 Q 33 87 44

College or university 84 69 8 4 9 Q 15 57 44

Office complex 154 112 4 3 4 Q 12 107 30

Retail complex 258 210 84 41 85 7 67 171 79

Storage complex 314 37 Q N Q Q Q 33 7

Religious campus or complex 197 158 Q Q 29 Q 22 138 Q

Health care complex 52 46 14 5 9 (*) 19 42 18

Lodging or resort complex 65 49 7 Q 11 Q 14 42 14

Transportation complex 35 25 (*) Q Q Q Q 25 7

Government complex 104 74 3 Q 11 Q 12 72 22

Other 371 226 16 Q 25 Q 34 209 54

Energy sources 

(more than one may apply)

Electricity 5,234 3,984 811 295 826 78 846 3,388 960

Natural gas 2,933 2,433 593 208 573 53 594 2,032 648

Fuel oil 467 385 82 27 89 10 107 346 130

District heat 48 38 12 4 9 Q 15 30 27

District chilled water 54 36 7 3 7 Q 11 30 22

Propane 510 430 106 39 115 9 110 376 93

Other 172 141 33 7 29 Q 32 125 40

Energy end uses 

(more than one may apply)

Buildings with space heating 4,722 3,801 768 286 783 70 805 3,235 926

Buildings with cooling 4,461 3,687 780 287 777 75 824 3,119 921

Buildings with water heating 4,423 3,726 803 293 813 76 837 3,143 924

Buildings with cooking 1,589 1,584 660 242 600 53 630 1,227 354

Buildings with manufacturing 259 215 39 11 42 Q 38 190 57

Buildings with electricity

generation 410 377 118 44 110 15 161 329 184

Refrigeration equipment

(more than one may apply)

Any refrigeration 3,984 3,984 811 295 826 78 846 3,388 960

Walk-in units 811 811 811 241 500 58 523 447 260

Cases or cabinets 915 915 555 295 826 51 534 517 274

Large cold storage areas 78 78 58 28 49 78 48 51 35

Commercial ice makers 846 846 523 216 485 48 846 581 328

Residential-type or compact units 3,388 3,388 447 170 469 51 581 3,388 777

Vending machines 960 960 260 121 249 35 328 777 960

No refrigeration 1,573 N N N N N N N N
Walk-in 

units

Open 

cases or 

cabinets

Closed 

cases or 

cabinets

Large cold

storage

areas

Commercial

ice

makers

Residentialtype or

compact

units

Vending

machines

All buildings 5,557 3,984 811 295 826 78 846 3,388 960

Table B45. Refrigeration equipment, number of buildings, 2012

Number of buildings (thousand)

Buildings

with any

refrigeration

equipment

Type of refrigeration equipment (more than one may apply)

All

buildings

Food preparation or serving areas 

in non-food service buildings

(more than one may apply)

Snack bar or concession stand 153 153 97 58 81 18 89 115 72

Fast food or small restaurant 173 173 143 80 125 15 118 129 88

Cafeteria or large restaurant 130 129 105 35 74 6 90 99 83

Commercial kitchen/

food preparation area 282 281 146 61 147 18 145 208 115

Small kitchen area 736 733 96 45 113 13 120 691 119

 1These climate regions were created by the Building America program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable 

Energy (EERE). 

 Q = Data withheld either because the Relative Standard Error (RSE) was greater than 50 percent or fewer than 20 buildings were sampled.

 N = No cases in reporting sample.

 (*) = Value rounds to zero in the units displayed.

 Notes: ● Because of rounding, data may not sum to totals. ● See Guide to the 2012 CBECS Detailed Tables or CBECS Terminology for definition of terms used in 

these tables and/or comparison of differences with prior CBECS tables. Both references can be accessed from 

http://www.eia.gov/consumption/commercial/data/2012/

 Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Office of Energy Consumption and Efficiency Statistics, Form EIA-871A of the 2012 Commercial Buildings Energy 

Consumption Survey.