On March 25, DOE traveled to Goodyear, Arizona to recognize Better Buildings Alliance partner REI for its leadership in energy efficiency. Maria T. Vargas, Director of DOE’s Better Buildings Initiative, toured REI’s Distribution Center Showcase Project. REI has achieved significant energy savings at the facility and hopes to achieve its goal to have this be a net-zero energy facility by 2020. In 2018, REI's distribution center achieved an annual energy savings of 18% and annual cost savings of $170,000 from its baseline.
Media was invited to tour the facility with DOE and REI staff.
Attendees had the opportunity to see the center’s energy efficiency features including the 2.2-megawatt rooftop solar system and solar array, as well as its cooling system, hyperchairs, robotic shuttles, and more.
Read more about REI’s commitment to energy efficiency in its Showcase Project on the Better Buildings Solution Center. Check out photos from the event below! From left to right:
- Maria Vargas preparing to be interviewed by local TV station FOX10 News Phoenix
- View of REI’s distribution center floor with non-evaporative cooling system, skylights and fans are visible.
- The facility is also the industry’s first omni-channel one-touch fulfillment system, which enables one person to process items eight times faster than at a typical distribution center by using robotic shuttles to move products to staff.
- The 400,000-square-foot facility supports more than 40% of the co-op’s sales.
