DOE Retail Building Guide ‘Can Halve Energy Costs’

The Department of Energy has released a guide that it says will help owners of retail stores achieve 50 percent energy savings, compared to the building energy code used in many parts of the U.S.

The publication, the third installment in the DOE’s series of 50% Advanced Energy Design Guides, is designed for architects, engineers, and contractors of medium to big-box retail buildings. The guides, developed through partnerships wit­­­­­­h the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, American Institute of Architects, U.S. Green Building Council and Illuminating Engineering Society of North America, provide climate-specific recommendations to incorporate off-the-shelf energy efficient building products.

ASHRAE says the series allows companies to easily achieve advanced levels of energy savings without having to resort to detailed calculations or analysis. The retail design guide is available for free download from the ASHRAE site.

According to the DOE, the recommendations will help designers and builders choose advanced building assemblies and highly efficient heating and cooling systems, and incorporate other energy-saving measures such as daylighting and associated control systems. Additionally, efficiency measures found in the guides can be used in the development of future commercial building energy codes.

The series is designed to support President Obama’s goal to reduce energy use in commercial buildings 20 percent by 2020.

The Retail Buildings guide is the third installment in the 50% series, and follows the guides for small and medium office buildings and K-12 schools released in 2011. The final guide, for large hospitals, is in progress.