Retailers Save Money with LED Retrofits

As reported in Environmental Leader

Retail stores such as Timberland and Basset Home Furnishings are realizing the cost and environmental benefits of switching from traditional store lighting to LED lights.

Retail stores such as Timberland and Basset Home Furnishings are realizing the cost and environmental benefits of switching from traditional store lighting to LED lights.The Timberland Company has saved approximately $100,000 in electricity costs ten months after it partnered with Eco-Story to develop LED lighting track lights for its retail stores. Eco-Story developed special LED track lights for the footwear and apparel maker’s 50 retail stores across the United States.

Depending on each store’s location and size, Eco-story replaced up to 150 50- to 90-watt halogen spotlights per store with 10-watt Par 30 LED bulbs (featuring Cree XLamp LEDs) that were color-matched to client specifications.

“Eco-consciousness led the way in our endeavor to make lighting changes, but with the federal tax incentive and our lowered electric bill, the financial savings has been a significant advantage,” said Al Buell, store planning and construction project manager at Timberland.

In addition, there was no labor costs involved in the transition since Timberland store employees handled the easy lamp change, taking less than four weeks to complete in all 50 stores.

Timberland’s lights are predicted to last 6 to 10 years and have an extremely low failure rate, according to Eco-Story. Only about 15 of the approximately 5,400 lamps installed in Timberland stores have failed, equaling less than one percent.

Paying no upfront costs, the Bassett Home Furnishings showroom in Fife, Wash., recently completed an Energy Star-rated LED lighting project, aimed at improving light quality and energy efficiency.

Installed by Lime Energy, Bassett received a substantial utility incentive from Tacoma Power and will pay for the balance of the installation over time. Scott Selden, owner of the store, expects monthly energy costs to decrease by more than the monthly payment to Lime Energy for the next three years.

The LED retrofit project also is expected to eliminate 311,000 pounds of carbon dioxide, 1,217 pounds of sulfur dioxide and 772 pounds of nitrogen oxides (NOx).