Los Angeles, DC, and San Francisco lead EPA’s 2020 Top Cities list for ENERGY STAR certified buildings
By EPA
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently unveiled its annual ENERGY STAR Top Cities list, showing which U.S. metro areas were home to the most ENERGY STAR certified buildings last year (2019). They ranked the Top 25 Cities overall, the Top 10 Mid-Size Cities, and the Top 10 Small Cities.
Los Angeles earned first place with nearly 550 ENERGY STAR certified buildings, bumping Washington, D.C., into second place. San Francisco rose from sixth place last year to earn a third-place spot this year. And Dallas and Atlanta defended their positions in the top five, each with nearly 300 ENERGY STAR certified buildings.
Earning the ENERGY STAR in 2019 was the hardest it’s ever been
In 2019, EPA updated its ENERGY STAR scoring models to make them more stringent and reflective of the improved energy performance of the U.S. commercial building market. Under these new criteria, more than 5,600 buildings earned EPA’s ENERGY STAR certification. Together, they saved more than $1.4 billion on their energy bills and prevented nearly 5 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions from entering our atmosphere.
A few notable buildings in Los Angeles
ENERGY STAR certified buildings are always hiding in plain sight. Here are a few you may have missed:
- Fox Plaza, where almost the entirety of Die Hard was filmed (as the fictional Nakatomi Plaza)
- Directors Guild of America, at 7920 Sunset Blvd
- TMZ Headquarters (shown at right), so you can browse celebrity gossip and feel good about it.