Environmental Leader

The U.S. Department of Energy and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory released the first technical support documents to provide recommendations on how to achieve 50 percent energy savings over the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers Standard in grocery stores and medium-sized retail buildings.

The reports found that achieving 50 percent energy savings is possible for medium-sized retail buildings with plug load levels no greater than 1.76 watt per square-foot and for grocery stores in each climate zone in the U.S. The report says the goal can be met without photovoltaic electricity generation.

The study was conducted by NREL’s Commercial Buildings team, under the direction of DOE’s Building Technologies Program. The studies support DOE’s goal of producing market-ready, net-zero energy commercial buildings by 2025.

In October, DOE awarded $15 million to 21 companies in an effort to encourage the adoption of energy-efficient technologies for new construction and retrofits in commercial buildings.

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