The Department of Energy released its net-zero energy initiative in commercial buildings this August. Not even three months later, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s Commercial Buildings team, under the direction of DOE’s Buildings Technology Program, released a study outlining ways for some commercial buildings and grocery stores to reduce their energy by 50 percent.

The study is split into two PDF files, each containing around 200 pages of design elements to achieve at least 50 percent reduction of energy for medium-sized (requiring 1.76 watts per square foot) business buildings and any grocery store.

The study supports the Net-Zero Energy Commercial Building Initiative – which calls for the production of market-ready, net-zero energy buildings by 2025. The building initiative is just one aspect of the department’s umbrella initiative, which is to attain net-zero energy sometime in the foreseeable future.

Sept. 30, The U.S. Department of Energy launched the 2008 Clean Cities National Alternative Fuel Vehicle Day Odyssey, also known as Odyssey Day. The day was celebrated in Washington D.C., and embarked a nationwide symposium of 80 events dedicated to promoting the use of petroleum-free fuel that will take place over the next few months. Events are happening in over 60 locations and range from ride-and-drive events to public forums.

The Clean Cities partnership consists of 86 coalitions working with 5,700 local stakeholder programs. Clean Cities has helped reduce the use of petroleum-fuel by 2 billion gallons; put more than half a million alternative-fuel vehicles on the road; and contributed to the construction of more than 3,000 alternative refueling stations across the country.

I couldn’t find where the events will be, but with 86 coalitions, chances are good there will be one in your state.