Warehouses were the most common U.S. commercial building type as of 2018

As of 2018, warehouse and storage buildings were the most common type of commercial building in the country, according to our most recent Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS). Our most recent CBECS was released in September 2021 and was based on buildings characteristics as of 2018. We estimate that the United States had just over 1 million warehouse and storage buildings as of 2018 and a total floorspace of 17.4 million square feet. This survey marks the first time since CBECS was released in 1979 that warehouse and storage buildings were the most common building type, ranked by both number of buildings and by total square footage.