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U.S. Department of Energy Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
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Retailer Energy Alliance

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) invites retailers to join the Retailer Energy Alliance (REA) in order to work with DOE and its national laboratories to significantly reduce the energy consumption of commercial buildings. Here you will find information about REA, including REA goals and Project Teams.

Suppliers play a critical role in providing energy-saving technologies and strategies. Learn more about how suppliers can participate with the alliances.

For more information, read the Retailer Energy Alliance fact sheet. See a list of current REA members.

About the Retailer Energy Alliance

U.S. retail buildings account for approximately 20% of commercial sector energy consumption and represent the fastest-growing subsector, making them an important focus in DOE's effort to improve the energy performance of commercial buildings throughout the nation. The retail industry also offers a unique opportunity to quickly affect a significant number of buildings. Because most retailers build multiple buildings with the same design, energy-efficient strategies can be adopted widely throughout a company's building portfolio. And because of the similarities between companies, lessons learned and technologies used in one company are often easily transferred to another.

The REA Steering Committee has identified the following areas of interest for exploring best practices and promoting research in energy-efficient design and operation for retail facilities:

  • Right-sizing of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) and refrigeration equipment and systems
  • Rooftop HVAC equipment
  • Refrigerated display cases
  • Interior and exterior lighting systems
  • Process and plug loads, including maintenance equipment, electronic displays, and cooking equipment
  • Building-integrated renewable energy supply systems
  • Central or building-level energy management systems.

One of REA's goals is to identify new or underused energy-efficiency technologies that have significant potential for energy savings in member buildings and to select the most promising of these technologies for technology and system specification development. REA members, with DOE and national lab support, develop and implement these projects to help advance new technologies in the marketplace. REA also conducts supplier summits, in cooperation with other alliances, to open a dialogue between retailers and suppliers about energy-efficient products.