Advance Letter

Department of Energy
Washington, D.C. 20585

Dear Building Manager:
This building has been selected to participate in the U.S. Department of Energy’s 2007 Commercial
Building Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS). The Energy Information Administration (EIA), the
statistical agency within the Department of Energy, is responsible for the administration of the CBECS
and the dissemination of its data. CBECS is the only comprehensive source of energy-related information
for U.S. commercial buildings. Some examples of those who use this data are:
• Building owners and managers to compare their own energy-related information with other
similar buildings;
• Energy modelers and forecasters to assess current energy use and to forecast future energy
patterns; and
• Members of the federal government, including Congress, as well as State and local
governments to formulate energy policies.
The enclosed brochure provides more background facts about the CBECS survey and gives specific
examples of how the collected information is used.
Be assured that every piece of information we collect about this building is kept strictly confidential.
Your information, along with other buildings in this survey, will be combined and released to the public
only in a statistical, summary format.
Each building in the survey was scientifically selected to represent buildings – in some cases as many as
5,000 buildings. Consequently, your participation is essential. If you agree to participate you will be asked
about the kinds of energy this building uses, how it is used, how much it costs, and other questions related
to energy use in this building.
In the next few weeks, an interviewer from the U.S. Department of Energy’s contractor, the National
Opinion Research Center (NORC), affiliated with the University of Chicago, will be visiting you.
If you have any questions please call NORC at (XXX) XXX-XXXX or email [email protected]. To
speak with someone at the U.S. Department of Energy, please call Joelle Michaels at (202) 586-8952 or
email her at [email protected]. Information on the CBECS is also available on the internet by
visiting http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cbecs.
We look forward to working with you, and we thank you for participating in this important national
energy survey.
Sincerely,
Stephanie J. Battles
Director, Energy Consumption Division
Energy Information Administration

Authorizing Legislation:
The survey of the commercial sector is authorized under the Federal Energy Administration Act of 1974;
Public Law 93-275, as amended, and the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (Public Law 102-486). The
Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS), conducted by the Energy Information
Administration of the U.S. Department of Energy, is a voluntary survey that provides information about
energy use in U.S. buildings.
Respondent Confidentiality:
This survey will be conducted under the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act
(CIPSEA) of 2002 (P.L. 107-347). Data collected under the provisions of this legislation are required to
be kept confidential and to be used only for statistical purposes (i.e., characterizations for population
subgroups that do not reveal any information that could identify individual responses). The Energy
Information Administration, as the sponsoring organization for the CBECS, is responsible for assuring
that all identifying information such as respondent names and addresses and/or building names and
addresses are kept confidential and cannot be linked to the data collected in the CBECS.
Public Reporting Burden:
Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average between 30 and 45
minutes per questionnaire. Send comments regarding the burden estimate or any other aspect of this
collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden to:
Energy Information Administration
Statistics and Methods Group EI-70
1000 Independence Ave, SW
Washington, D.C. 20585
and
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
Office of Management and Budget
Washington, D.C. 20503