U.S. Energy Information Administration | Questionnaire content & changes summary: 2012 to 2018 CBECS i

October 2018

 

Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS) 

Questionnaire content & changes summary: 2012 to 2018 CBECS 

• Building Size, Structural Characteristics, 

and Age

o Square footage (exact—categorical if exact 

is unknown)

 Removed: Follow-ups about inclusion of 

any parking and common areas included in 

square footage figure

o Wall construction material, Roof 

construction material

 Updated: Cool roof (now Roof 

characteristics: white or highly reflective 

coating or paint/tiles or shingles, aluminum 

coating, ballasted roof, vegetated roof, 

other)

o Roof pitch

o Building shape

o Percent of exterior that is glass (categorical)

 Removed: Whether the glass is equal on all 

sides of the building and if not, Whether the 

sides receiving direct sunlight have more or 

less glass than the other sides

o Number of floors, Number of underground 

floors

o Floor-to-ceiling height, Presence of an attic

o Elevators, Escalators (presence and 

number)

o Year of construction (exact—categorical if 

exact is unknown)

o Renovations since 2000 (updated reference 

year) (and a list of 13 specific types)

• Building Activity

o If one activity accounts for 75% or more of 

the floorspace, the primary activity is 

collected, otherwise the top three activities 

and the percent of floorspace occupied by 

each activity are collected:

• Office/Professional

• Data center

• Warehouse/Storage

• Food sales or service

• Retail

• Education

• Religious worship

• Public assembly

• Health care

• Service

• Lodging

• Public order and safety

• Residential

• Industrial/Manufacturing

• Agricultural

• Vacant

• Other (specify)

o Building activity subcategories (100+); 

respondent chooses from a subset of the 

subcategories, dependent on the primary 

activity

 Removed: If any office space, presence and 

location of open plan office space

o Special measures of size, dependent on the 

main activity (e.g., number of classroom 

seats, number of licensed hospital beds, 

number of guest rooms)

 New: Presence of a drive-thru window for 

food service buildings

o Whether the building is on a multibuilding 

campus/complex, and if so:

o Type of campus, Presence of a central plant, 

Whether the central plant is in the building, 

Output energy sources of the central plant

 New: Number of buildings on the 

campus/complex

• Building Ownership/Occupancy, Operating 

Hours, and Employment

o Building ownership: government (federal, 

state, local) or other type of owner (REIT; 

other corporation, partnership, LLC, or LLP; 

individual owner(s); religious organization; 

other non-profit organization; private 

academic institution; other)
U.S. Energy Information Administration | Questionnaire content & changes summary: 2012 to 2018 CBECS 2

o Number of businesses or organizations that 

use space full-time (exact—categorical if 

exact is unknown)

o Whether the building is owner occupied

 New: Number of tenants that lease space

 Updated: Owner operator: Is the building 

owner responsible for the operation and 

maintenance of the energy systems?

o Purchasing power: Does the building owner 

also have direct input on decisions 

regarding purchases of energy-related 

equipment?

o Nonowner operator or nonowner with 

purchasing power (property management 

company/leasing agent; business 

owner/tenant; facilities personnel 

employed directly by the owner; 

facilities/energy management consultant; 

volunteer member of the organization; 

manager with general supervisory duties; 

other)

o Number of months the building was in use

o Percent occupancy (for office buildings, 

enclosed malls, outpatient health care, 

hotels, motel/inns, and retirement homes)

 Removed: Annual number of events for 

public assembly buildings, annual meals 

served for restaurants

 Removed: Seasonal use, “high season” 

questions

o Whether the building is normally open 24 

hours a day, on weekdays, and/or on 

weekends

o Weekly operating hours (exact—categorical 

if exact is unknown)

o Number of employees on the main shift 

(exact— categorical if exact is unknown)

 Removed: Whether fire station personnel 

are career or volunteer

• Energy Sources, Uses, and Equipment 

o End uses: whether energy was used during 

2018 for: heating, air conditioning, water 

heating, cooking, manufacturing, or 

electricity generation

o Energy sources used: electricity, natural gas, 

fuel oil/diesel/kerosene, propane/bottled 

gas/LPG, district steam, district hot water, 

district chilled water, wood, coal, solar, or 

other

 New: If solar chosen above, whether they 

have solar panels for generating electricity 

or solar thermal energy

o Percent of the building that is heated and 

cooled

 Updated: Space heating source(s) and 

equipment: instead of simply asking what 

energy source(s) were used for heating and 

then what types of equipment, the 

equipment type is linked to each energy 

source reported for heating. The equipment 

type response options for each heating 

energy source are shown in the grid on 

page 5.

 Updated: Boiler/steam/hot water 

distribution (air handlers, fan coil or 

induction units, duct reheat, radiators, 

radiant floor/ceiling panels, water loop heat 

pumps, other) 

 Removed: Type of furnace (packaged 

central, split system, duct furnace, 

individual)

 Removed: Type of packaged 

heating/cooling (unitary, custom built-up), 

packaged heating components (furnace, 

heat pump, heating coil, powered induction 

unit, duct reheat)

 New: Whether the packaged unit contains a 

heat pump 

 Removed: Heat pump heating/cooling 

system type (packaged, split, individual, 

ductless mini-split, variable refrigerant flow)

 New: If individual heater or heat pump, 

whether it is a packaged terminal heat 

pump (PTHP)

 New: If heat pump, whether the system is 

variable refrigerant flow (VRF) 

 Removed: Type of individual heater 

(infrared radiant, baseboard, portable 

heater, wall heater, individual furnace, unit 

heater, heating element in PTAC)

o Heat pump type (air source, ground source, 

combination)

o Percent heated by each equipment/source 

combination, Main heating equipment

 Updated: Air conditioning source(s) and 

equipment: similar to space heating, the 

equipment type is linked to each energy 

source reported to be used for cooling. The 

equipment type response options for each 

air conditioning energy source are shown in 

the grid on page 5.
U.S. Energy Information Administration | Questionnaire content & changes summary: 2012 to 2018 CBECS 3

o Chiller/chilled water distribution (air 

handlers, fan coil or induction units, chilled 

beam, water loop heat pump, other)

o Type of chiller (air cooled, water cooled, 

absorption) 

 New: If heat pump or residential-type split 

system, whether it is variable refrigerant 

flow (VRF) 

o Percent cooled by each equipment/source 

combination, Main air conditioning 

equipment

 Removed: Heater chiller

o Building Automation System (BAS)

 New: Which system the BAS controls 

(heating, cooling, lighting)

 New: “Smart” or internet-connected 

thermostat

 Updated: Other method used to control the 

indoor temperature during the 

heating/cooling season: setting a

programmable thermostat, manually 

adjusting temperature setting, or turning 

the equipment on or off.

 Updated: Heating/cooling ventilation 

equipment is now Airflow control: variable 

air volume (VAV) system, dedicated 

outdoor air system (DOAS), demandcontrolled ventilation (DCV)

o Economizer cycle, Cooling tower, Regular 

HVAC maintenance

 Removed: Type of economizer cycle (airside or water-side)

o Energy sources for water heating, cooking, 

manufacturing

o Type of water heating equipment: 

centralized and/or point-of-use

o Booster water heaters (for food service, 

inpatient health, dry cleaner/laundromat, 

car wash)

 Removed: Whether the water is hot as soon 

as it is turned on (for lodging)

o Electricity generation technologies (solar 

panels, reciprocating engine generator, fuel 

cells, large turbines, microturbines, wind 

turbines, other)

 New: Energy sources by generation 

technology (other than solar panels or wind 

turbines)

o Cogeneration system

o Use of generated electricity (back-up, 

during high demand, or whenever 

electricity is used)

 Removed: How electricity and natural gas 

are purchased (local utility, independent 

power producer, non-local utility, broker)

 New: Whether the capacity of the 

generators is greater than 1MW (for 

buildings larger than 50,000 square feet)

 New: Electric vehicle charging stations 

associated with the building

 New: Natural gas clothes dryers (for dry 

cleaners/laundromats)

o Categorical amounts of propane and wood 

used, wood expenditures, if applicable

o Whether the building has a formal energy 

management plan in which energy targets 

are set and consistently monitored

• Miscellaneous Equipment (Note: Many of 

these questions are only asked for certain 

building activities.)

o Commercial food preparation space (list of 

7 types) and square footage follow-up for 

selected spaces (snack bar, fast food, 

cafeteria, commercial kitchen)

o Activities requiring large amounts of hot 

water

o Linens laundered onsite

 Removed: Space in fire stations for non-fire 

station activities, living quarters

o Space in hotels/motels for conferences or 

social events and estimate of percent of 

floorspace

o Medical equipment (overall presence and 

follow-up for number of X-ray, CT scan, 

MRI, linear accelerators)

o Percent outpatient care (in Inpatient health 

buildings)

o Operating rooms for outpatient surgery (in 

Outpatient health)

o Laboratory equipment, Machine equipment

o Indoor heated pool (and energy source if 

present), Indoor ice rink

o Sterilizers or autoclaves

o Refrigeration and/or freezer types (full-size 

residential-type, half-size/compact, walk-in, 

open cases/cabinets, closed cases/cabinets, 

refrigerated vending, commercial ice 

makers, large cold storage 

areas)―presence and number of each type

o Refrigeration waste heat recovery system 

(for food sales, large hotel/motels) and 

whether it is used for space heating, water 

heating or some other use
U.S. Energy Information Administration | Questionnaire content & changes summary: 2012 to 2018 CBECS 4

o Computers, Laptops, Servers―presence and 

number (exact―categorical if exact is 

unknown)

o Multiple monitors—presence and category 

of prevalence 

 New: Tablets charged in the building—

presence and number

 Removed: Flat screen monitors – presence 

and category of prevalence

 New: Power usage effectiveness (PUE) for 

data center buildings

o Separate computer areas (data center, 

computer-based training, student/public 

computer center, trading floor) and square 

footage follow-up for data centers

 New: Data center characteristics (raised 

floor, separate cooling system, humidity 

control, UPS, controlled access)

 Removed: Square footage of trading floors

 Removed: Number and type (inkjet/laser) 

of printers

o Interactive whiteboards, TV or video 

displays— presence and number 

 New: Large floor-standing office devices 

(any combination of 

printer/copier/scanner/FAX machine), 

Smaller desktop devices, Point-of-sales or 

cash registers—presence and number

 Removed: Cash registers, Photocopiers, 

Separate FAX machines

 New: Number of ATMs for bank buildings

o Percent of building lit during usual business 

hours and during off hours (exact—

categorical if exact is unknown)

o Types of lighting (fluorescent, compact 

fluorescent, incandescent, halogen, HID, 

LED, other) and the percent of floorspace 

lighted by each

o Lighting controls (scheduling, occupancy 

sensors, multi-level lighting/dimming, 

daylight harvesting, high-end 

trimming/light-level tuning, plug-load 

control, demand responsive)

o Percent exterior lighted (categorical)

 Updated: Lighted parking area that is 

included in building’s electrical service and 

whether it is part of the building (e.g., 

indoor parking level) or separate (e.g.,

outdoor lot or garage), Number of parking 

spaces in that lighted area

o Window glass type (single/multi-layer)

o Daylighting features (tinted window glass, 

reflective window glass, external overhangs 

or awnings, skylights or atriums)

o Percent of building that receives enough 

outside light so that the lights do not need 

to be turned on

• Energy Usage

o Consumption and expenditures data are 

collected for electricity, natural gas, fuel oil, 

district steam, and district hot water.

o Building respondents are asked to provide 

annual consumption and expenditures (for 

calendar year 2018). 

o Energy suppliers will be contacted to obtain 

monthly data.

 New: Buildings with on-site electricity 

generation are asked to provide both the 

total electricity used and the amount of 

purchased electricity, if available

 Removed: Water Usage Questions

• Green Building Certification 

 Removed: In the past 3 years, has this 

building been certified as a “green 

building,” such as Energy Star, LEED, or 

Green Globes? If yes, which type(s). (Note:

As reported by the respondent, this 

information was found to have low validity 

in the 2012 CBECS. This information can be 

added via record matching for the 2018 

CBECS.)

 New: Tenant billing and metering

o For offices, retail and warehouses over 

10,000 square feet, new questions 

about whether electricity and/or 

natural gas is included in the tenants’ 

rent or separately billed, whether there 

are meters dedicated to tracking 

energy use within individual tenants, 

and which end uses are tracked 

individually.
U.S. Energy Information Administration | Questionnaire content & changes summary: 2012 to 2018 CBECS 5

Heating source and equipment combinations

EL NG FO PR ST HW WO CO SO OT

Packaged central units X X X X

Boilers X X X X X X

Heat pumps X X X

Residential-type furnaces X X X X X X X

Individual space heaters X X X X X X

Fireplaces X X X X

Other [specify] X X X X X X X X

Distribution for district steam/hot water/boiler:

Central air handlers X X

Fan coil or induction units X X

Duct reheat X X X

Radiators X X

Radiant floor/ceiling panels X X

Water loop heat pumps X X

Other X X

Air conditioning source and equipment combinations

EL NG FO PR ST CW OT

Packaged A/C units X

Central chillers X X X X X

Heat pumps for A/C X

Residential-type split system A/C X

Individual room or portable A/C X

“Swamp” coolers or evaporative coolers X

Other [specify] X X X X X X

Distribution for district chilled water/chiller:

Central air handlers X

Fan coil or induction units X

Chilled beam X

Water loop heat pump X

Other X