Boston has been named to the Environmental Protection Agency’s annual list of U.S. metropolitan areas with the most certified Energy Star buildings in 2013.

Boston ranked at No. 13 on the list of the top 25 U.S. metropolitan areas, with 141 Energy Star-certified buildings. Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. and Atlantic rounded out the list’s top three cities, respectively.

Launched in 1992 by EPA, Energy Star is a market-based partnership to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through energy efficiency. In order to earn the EPA’s Energy Star rating, a commercial building must perform in the top 25 percent of similar buildings nationwide, as verified by a professional engineer or a registered architect. Energy Star certified buildings cost 50 cents less per square foot to operate and use nearly two times less energy per square foot than average office buildings. Twenty types of commercial buildings can earn the Energy Star, including office buildings, K-12 schools and retail stores.

"We congratulate Boston for once again representing New England on this list of cities across America that are taking tangible steps to conserve energy and thereby reduce emissions of air pollution and greenhouse gases," Curt Spalding, regional administrator of EPA’s New England office, said in a statement. "Thousands of facility owners and managers have used Energy Star to evaluate and improve their building’s energy performance. Lowering commercial building energy costs is good business. Many state and local governments also recognize that benchmarking can save taxpayer money, strengthen local economies and protect the planet for decades to come."

By the end of 2013, more than 23,000 Energy Star certified buildings in cities across America have helped save more than $3.1 billion in annual utility bills and prevent greenhouse gas emissions equal to emissions from the annual electricity use of more than 2.2 million homes.