The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says that the number of buildings in the country that received Energy Star designation is up by more than 130 percent over 2007. A building that receives the designation from the agency must use 35 percent less energy and emit 35 percent less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than an average building of comparable size. The EPA says the top 10 cities for the number of Energy Star buildings are, in order, Los Angeles and San Francisco, California; Houston, Texas; Washington, D.C.; Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas; Chicago, Illinois; Denver, Colorado; Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota; Atlanta, Georgia; and Seattle, Washington. In those cities, the EPA says 1,397 buildings received the Energy Star designation, with total estimated savings in energy costs of $459 million.