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K4C

King County Cities Climate Collaboration Dashboard

Commercial Energy

King County is home to many world-class businesses, large and small. Each of these organizations carries its own energy usage and carbon footprint. Several key factors influence how much energy a commercial entity uses, including building size, type of industry, hours of operation, equipment, and number of employees. For several years, King County has been offering a green business recognition program called EnviroStars. EnviroStars now uses a third-party to evaluate whether proper waste management, energy usage, building materials and water usage are incorporated into a business’s operations. During this evaluation, consultants offer free tips for reducing a business’s emissions. EnviroStars awards eco-friendly organizations with promotional materials and a spot in the green business directory. This directory allows consumers to easily find EnviroStars certified businesses to visit. 

How Much Energy Does Each City's Commercial Sector Use?

This chart shows absolute energy usage from each city's commercial sector. Bellevue and Redmond, who are both home to commercial giants including Microsoft and T-Mobile, have much more energy intensive commercial sectors than the predominantly residential communities of Mercer Island and Kirkland. While absolute energy usage shows the total amount of energy used, normalized charts can reveal trends and insights separate from sector growth. K4C is working to find appropriate normalizing metrics to allow for more opportunities for data analysis.

Total Commercial Building Energy Use (Electricity and Natural gas)

What Are the Sources of Commercial Emissions?

This figure shows the distribution of emissions caused by two common energy sources; electricity and natural gas. Stationary combustion (natural gas) is commonly used commercially as a heat source, both for water and space heating. Electricity can be used for a variety of things in the commercial sector, but is most commonly used for air conditioning, ventilation, and lighting. Residential energy emissions aren't quite as dominated by electricity usage. This is because home air conditioning is still uncommon in the relatively cooler Pacific Northwest.

Commercial Energy Emissions by Energy Source (2014-2016)

Residential Energy Emissions by Energy Source (2014-2016)