U.S. Department of Energy - Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

Federal Energy Management Program

Doing Business with the Federal Government

The Department of Energy (DOE) and FEMP are always interested in learning more about energy-efficient technologies, design processes, and services. However, FEMP does not endorse, purchase, or partner with any private entity to sell goods or services to the Federal Government, or to energy service companies (ESCOs), or utilities working with the Federal Government.

The information provided below is intended to answer common questions about doing business with the Federal Government. The information is organized by:

A downloadable version is also available (PDF 778 KB). Download Adobe Reader.

Selling Products to the Federal Government

FEMP created the Selling Energy-Efficient Products to the Federal Government (PDF 808 KB) guide to help private industry conduct business with the Federal Government. Download Adobe Reader.

Getting listed on the General Services Administration's (GSA) schedule and bidders list is the first step towards selling products to the Federal Government. For further information, visit the GSA's Getting on Schedule and Purchasing Programs Web pages.

The DOE maintains a list of qualified ESCOs contracted to provide energy savings performance contract (ESPC) services (PDF 66 KB). Please contact these ESCOs directly about partnership opportunities.

Back to top

FEMP-Designated and ENERGY STAR Products

Federal agencies are required to purchase FEMP-designated or ENERGY STAR-qualified products. These products are in the upper 25% of their class in energy efficiency.

FEMP does not recognize, endorse, or otherwise identify specific products for Federal procurement. Instead, FEMP identifies required performance levels for a category of products, which is typically an energy consumption level within the upper 25% of the product category. For example:

In the category for "widgets," if there are some widgets that consume 1 kilowatt hour (kWh) per year and others that consume 100 kWh per year, the required consumption level for FEMP-designated widgets will be set at 25 kWh per year. Any widget that uses less than 25 kWh per year will meet FEMP-designated Federal purchasing specifications for widgets.

FEMP does not test or measure product energy consumption. The program depends on outside sources for product energy consumption data. In some cases, this may be a Federal energy program like ENERGY STAR. Visit the ENERGY STAR Web site for more information.

For FEMP to identify a product category, a standard test procedure must be in place, and there must be some mechanism for customers to receive product energy consumption information as measured by that standard test procedure.

FEMP will not designate a product that does not have significant energy savings potential for the Federal Government. If no Federal agencies purchase the product, or if the difference in energy performance among products within the same category is trivial, FEMP will not designate purchasing specification for the product category.

For FEMP to create a new product category, it is necessary to submit the following information:

  • A standard test procedure to determine annual energy consumption, including standby energy consumption, for all products within the category
  • An outside data source for consumers to access annual energy consumption for all category products sold within the U.S. as tested by the standard procedure
  • Data covering the installed base of a particular product category within the Federal Government, or the annual number of products within that category purchased within the Federal sector

With this information, FEMP will determine if a product category is needed. This information must cover ALL products within the category sold in the U.S. — not just products manufactured by your company.

For additional information about FEMP-designated products, contact Stephen Walder at stephen.walder@ee.doe.gov or 202-586-9209.

Back to top

Technology Demonstrations

Limited technology demonstrations are possible to provide independent performance data to Federal decision makers and to support timely Federal adoption of energy-saving and environmentally-beneficial technologies. Contact Will Lintner at william.lintner@ee.doe.gov or 202-586-3120 for additional information.

For new technologies that have yet to be tested and used by the market, visit the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy's (EERE) Office of Inventions and Innovation Web site or contact Glenn Strahs at glenn.strahs@ee.doe.gov or 202-586-2305.

Back to top

Promotional Opportunities

To promote your business, products, or services, FEMP highly recommends participating in the GovEnergy Conference. The conference is the Government's premier event on energy management providing an opportunity to meet and sell to more than 1,000 energy professionals with purchasing authority for products and services across the Federal Government and private industry.

For vehicle, and fuel vendors, FEMP recommends participating in FedFleet. The conference provides training, presentations, and discussions for Government fleet managers and industry partners, as well as numerous exhibition and networking opportunities.

The FEMP Focus newsletter details energy management projects across the Federal sector. If you are making successful energy-saving projects happen at a Federal facility, FEMP would like to hear from you. Please submit project descriptions through your Federal agency contact to Hayes Jones at hayes.jones@ee.doe.gov or 202-586-8873. You will be contacted for additional information if your project is selected to be featured.

Back to top

Further Assistance

For further assistance, please contact the EERE Information Center. The Information Center answers questions on EERE products, services, and technology programs, and refers callers to appropriate EERE resources.

There are two ways to contact the EERE Information Center:

Back to top