LEDs are beginning to penetrate the country’s retail core. A newly reopened Leavenworth, Kansas Walmart now features 92 LED parking lot fixtures. The store’s parking lot will serve as a proving ground for LEDs as part of an experiment for the DOE’s Net-Zero Energy Commercial Building Initiative. Walmart sits on the steering committee for the Initiative’s Retailer Energy Alliance along with 11 of retail’s biggest names (among them McDonald’s, Target, Best Buy, and Lowe’s), the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America, and the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers. The Leavenworth Walmart’s energy savings will be scrutinized after one year of operation to determine if the LEDs are meeting their 50%+ power-saving target. If the testing goes well, expect retail parking lots across the country to receive equivalent makeovers.

Via The New York Times