IES Progress Report Selects LED Tubes from RedBird LED

The Cardinal™ LED Linear Replacement Lamps have been selected by the IES for inclusion in the prestigious Illuminating Engineering Society(IES) 2012 Progress Report. The Progress Report award will be presented to RedBird LED this month at the Annual IES Conference in Minneapolis.All IES Progress Report award winners will be profiled in a special supplement in the January issue of LD+A magazine.


The Cardinal™ LED Linear Replacement Lamps have also been recently certified by the DesignLights Consortium. These products are the only LED tube lights in the world to receive DLC Certification in the Linear Replacement Lamp category and are current listed on the DLC’s Qualified Product List. The DLC membership includes some of the largest utility companies in the United States.

Jonathan Eppstein, President of RedBird LED commented, “We are very excited and honored to be selected by the IES Progress Report Committee for the 2012 IES Progress Report. This prestigious award and the DLC certification are continued validation of the technical design and market leading performance our Cardinal™ LED Linear Replacement Lamps deliver. The award certainly solidifies our position as the quality and performance leader in this sector of the LED lighting industry.”

For more information about RedBird LED please visit www.redbirdled.com

LED Tube Light Retrofit Project Saves $ 30,000 Per Year

The potential energy savings from an LED Lighting retrofit can be substantial. In many projects that energy savings can range between 35-60%. The biggest hurdle is financing of the upfront costs of replacing less energy efficient lighting with LED Lighting. There are numerous financing and rebate programs offered through local utility companies. A number of utility companies, including Con Edison, are members of the DesignLights Consortium. The DesignLights Consortium publishes a list of qualified LED lighting products that member firms will include in their lighting rebate programs.

Davis & Warshow, a dealer of luxury kitchen and bath fixtures and plumbing materials recently completed a complete LED Tube lightingretrofit at their 209,000-square-foot distribution center in Queens, New York. The LED lighting retrofit project involved replacing outdated fluorescent lighting to more energy efficient LED tube lighting. The company claims this is one of largest single facility LED Tube light installation projects in the country.

The reported company investment in the LED Tube Lighting retrofit was more than $250,000. While this was a large expense for the company the program reduces the annual lighting energy expense from $50,000 to $ 20,000. In addition the company received a rebate check from local utility, Com Ed of $ 63,704. According to Davis & Warshow president David Finkel, "The amount represented rebates we earned for the lighting conversion based on annual kWh saved using the made-in-America fixtures," he said.  "Moreover, in five years’ time our investment will have paid for itself, with the rebates we've earned and the overall energy savings."

"We are pleased to support Davis & Warshow's efforts to make their business more sustainable," said David Pospisil, program manager of the Con Edison's Commercial & Industrial Energy Efficiency Programs who presented the five-figure rebate. "Con Edison's incentives and rebates help businesses like Davis & Warshow make smart investments to improve the energy and environmental performance of their buildings."

If your lighting project includes four foot LED Tube Light , the DLC only lists one LED Tube Manufacturer that meets their new strict criteria- RedBird LED based in Atlanta, GA. For more information on their Cardinal Linear LED Tube Replacement light please visit www.redbirdled.com

John Gilmore Joins RedBird LED as Vice President of Sales

Redbird LED is pleased to announce that LED lighting industry veteran John Gilmore has joined their sales and management team as the new Vice President of Sales. Redbird LED is an Atlanta, GA. firm that specializes in the design, manufacturing and distribution of premium energy efficient LED Linear Replacement Lamp products. Previously, John Gilmore was leading the LED Lighting sales efforts for SEESMART LED. In his new role, John will spearhead the sales and marketing of RedBird LED Tube Lights to lighting distributors, major national corporations, state and federal agencies, retailers and institutional owners throughout the United States.

Jonathan Eppstein, President of Redbird LED said, "We are excited that one of the most successful sales professionals in the country of LED Tube Lights has joined RedBird LED. John's commitment to RedBird validates our belief that there is a large demand for premium quality- high performing LED Linear Replacement Lamp products. The recent certification by the DesignLights Consortium for both our 22 watt and 18 watt Cardinal Linear Replacement Lamp products, which prequalifies them for many energy rebate programs, was a key factor in John's decision to join our firm at this time. Culminating several years of development and testing, the Cardinal LED Linear Replacement Lamp has become first, second, and still the only LED tube light in the world to receive DLC Certification."

In his previous position with SEESMART, a leading LED lighting distributor, John was responsible for managing the lighting sales operations, marketing strategy development, introduction of new products and managing key client accounts. During his tenure , sales revenue increased 92% to $11.5 million in 2011. Over this same time period his personal sales volume exceeded $7 million, including two of the largest LED Tube lighting contracts, Pasadena City College and General Services Administration. His previous clients included; Department of Defense (Army, Navy, and Air Force), Homeland Security, Department of Justice (correctional facilities), Department of General Services (City of Los Angeles), airports, schools, universities, and various municipalities throughout the US.

"I'm absolutely thrilled to be part of RedBird LED", says John Gilmore. "Jonathan is a brilliant engineer with a great vision. The fact that Redbird is exclusively focused on building the finest LED linear replacement lamps allows me to continue to build on my experience in marketing products in this category. Our plan is to leverage the Cardinal lamp's quality and DLC Certification to become the number one LED tube supplier in the world over the next year. Having the 18W tube on the DLC's qualified product list will allow us penetrate the massive fluorescent tube retrofit market, which has become a more immediate need with the recent obsolescence and subsequent unavailability of the older T12 style fluorescent tubes. Adding a rebate incentive to the basic energy savings, will allow the customer to see a complete payback in less than 1 year in many cases.

Over the past 5 years I have learned a tremendous amount about LED linear tubes. When I met with Jonathan and reviewed the RedBird LED technical data, the decision to make the move was very easy. It is truly the best LED tube in the world today!!"

About RedBird LED - Redbird LED is an Atlanta based designer and manufacturer of LED linear lights. Their company mission is to focus exclusively on providing quality LED linear light solutions to their customers. Redbird LED's core technology is in their premier linear LED light, designed and engineered specifically for retrofits of traditional fluorescent tube lights.

LED Lighting Retrofit Provides Ernst & Young With Annual Savings of $1 MIllion

Ernst & Young recently completed  one  of the largest LED lighting retrofit projects in New York Cty by replacing less energy efficient ligting at its headquarters office building in Times Square.The Ernst & Young headquarters building is 32 floors with 650,000 square feet of office space and houses 5,800 employees.  It is estimated that Ernst& Young will reduce their lighting and mainteance costs by 50% and will save at least $1 million dollars per year in lighting energy costs.The LED lighting retrofit is just one example of Ernst & Young's commitment to reducing their environmental impact. They have set a goal to have 50% of the office space they occupy in 2013 be LEED certfied.

"Reducing the carbon footprint of our office space is part of our firm-wide strategy to reduce our environmental footprint as our business grows," says Leisha John, Ernst & Young Americas Director of Environmental Sustainability. "In fact, by the end of 2013, we plan to have a majority of our employees working in LEED and or Energy Star certified space. The completion of this lighting retrofit project in the New York office brings us one step closer to that goal, and will be part of that office’s Energy Star application.In addition to reducing our energy footprint, green technologies like LED help us to reduce our operating expenses, which is a best practice for any company," said John. "This project is the result of the collaboration between several infrastructure groups within Ernst & Young LLP, particularly the Facilities and Real Estate teams, and the Climate Change and Sustainability Services professionals, who advise clients on sustainability practices."

The firm was able to reduce their upfront installation costs by 13% through sourcing rebates from their Utility Company. For more information on available energy efficient rebate  programs through DesignLights Consortium members please visit www.redbirdled.com

RedBird LED 18 watt LED Linear Lamp Receives Certification from DLC

RedBird LED Inc., an Atlanta, GA. firm that specializes in the design, manufacturing and distribution of  high quality energy efficient LED linear lighting products for industrial and commercial applications, is pleased to announce their second certification by the DesignLights Consortium (DLC) of their Cardinal™ LED Linear Retrofit products.  In May, RedBird LED  received certification by the DLC for their 22 watt LED Linear Replacement Lamp at both 4100K and 5000K CCTs.  The RedBird LED 18 watt Cardinal™ LED Linear Replacment lamp  has now also been certified by DLC as a Qualified Product. Culminating several years of development and testing, the Cardinal™ LED Linear Replacement Lamp has become both the first, second, and still the only LED tube light in the world to receive DLC Certification. 

By establishing the Cardinal LED tube light's position on the Qualified Product List of the DLC, RedBird LED has ensured that these products will be eligible for all rebate programs currently in place among the DLC's membership and will facilitate rapid approval by other rebate sources as well. The DLC is the premier resource for high-quality review and certification of LED lighting products that are not covered under the Energy STAR designated categories. The DLC membership is a nationwide consortium of utilities, EMCs and energy-efficiency programs across the United States and Canada. For more information about the DesignLights Consortium please visit their website at www.designlights.org.

For more information on the RdBird LED product line up or to receive technical specifications please visit the RedBird LED website or email company president Jonathan Eppstein.

LED Retrofits Increase Convenience Stores Bottom Line

Stewart's Shops recently completed an energy efficient lighting retrofit project at their corporate headquarters in Saratoga Springs, New York. Stewart's Shops operates 328 convenience stores in Upstate New York and Vermont. The annual savings from the lighting retrofit and replacement program is projected to be almost $78.000 per year. Based on these savings the lighting retrofit project will have a very quick payback period of less than sixteen months.

The existing lighting was replaced with more energy efficient T8 and T5 fluorescent lighting and LED lighting in all of the cold storage and freezer space. The ability of LED lighting to outperform other lighting options in cold temperatures was a key to the success of this project. “The ice cream freezer was the latest phase in a larger energy-efficiency project we've been working on with SmartWatt Energy for the last couple of years,” explained Gary Drake, President at Stewart’s Shops. The new energy efficient lighting will save 783,481 kWh of electricity per year. Stewart's Shops owns all of their real estate holding so these savings are important because they fall directly to their bottom line.

LED lighting provides many benefits for convenience store owners. In addition to energy and maintenance savings, LED lighting provides more uniform lighting and illumination that contribute to a better presentation of store products. This is especially important for food products in refrigerated cases and can lead to increased sales. LED lamps also produce less heat than fluorescent lamps which will lessen the load on the store's refrigeration system. LED’s work very well in the cold and last over 50,000 hours in a cooler and almost 100,000 hours in a freezer. 


RedBird LED, offers a number of high quality LED Linear Replacement lamps that are featured in convenience stores across the country. For more technical information on LED lighting please call 678-733-2473 or visit the RedBird LED website.

LED Lighting Retrofits Eligible for Energy Retrofits from Utility Companies

This week, the Department of Energy regulations that eliminate the manufacture of most T12 fluorescent lamps will be lamps take effect. The DOE wants to remove the energy inefficient T12 lamps from the commercial lighting market. Many companies, concerned about future supply and pricing of T12 lamps have pursued lighting retrofit projects to replace their existing lighting with more energy efficient T5 or T8 lamps.

Utility companies have encouraged these efforts by offering energy efficient lighting upgrade and replacement rebates. In many cases these rebates cover 50% of the installation costs for the lighting retrofit. These energy rebates allowed companies to replace their T12 lamps with their quality LED replacement lamps.Utility companies have recently announced that they will be extending these rebates to allow more companies to retrofit their T12 lighting.

One utility company that extended their rebate time period is DTE Energy in Michigan. DTE is offering special cash incentives to business owners who invest in new energy efficient lighting technologies through July 31, 2012, as part of the company's Energy Efficiency Program for Business. The financial incentives are available to businesses that convert older model, T12 fluorescent lights to high performance or low wattage-high performance T8 lamps and electronic ballasts. In California, Northern California utility companies will continue to offer energy saving rebates/incentives for these T12 to T8, T5 or LED upgrades through December 2012.

"We realize this legislation could significantly affect many of our business customers," said Bill Clemens, manager of energy efficiency program for DTE Energy. "We want to help our customers cover a portion of the investment needed to upgrade to the latest energy efficient technology. By retrofitting their outdated lights now, businesses can not only take advantage of the incentives that will likely be discontinued, but they will also avoid increased costs of replacing those lights in the future."

The Energy Efficiency Program for Business (dteenergy.com/saveenergy) was launched in 2009 to help DTE Energy customers save money by using less energy. The program offers customers a wide array of energy efficiency ideas and incentives. Customers can earn incentives if they make improvements from a list of qualified efficiency upgrades for both gas and electric technologies, including energy-efficient lighting, drives, controls, heating ventilation and air conditioning and more. For more information, please visit the program website at www.dteenergy.com/saveenergy , or call 866-796-0512, Option 3.

RedBird LED is an Atlanta-based manufacturer and designer of high quality LED linear replacement lamps. Their products have been used in national grocery, convenience stores, major hotel chains and corporate facilities throughout the country. To learn more about retrofitting your facility lighting and available energy rebate programs please visit the RedBird LED website.

  

Building Magazine- Save Money on Energy Efficient Lighting Retrofits

Building Magazine Provides Tips to Avoid Lighting Retrofit Mistakes

Energy efficient lighting retrofit projects have proven to be one of the simplest and direct ways to not only reduce lighting and maintenance costs but also reduce a corporation’ carbon footprint. This week is the deadline the DOE has set for the end of production of energy inefficient T12 lamps. This is just one more reason to pursue an energy efficient lightingretrofit program for your facilities. Most companies report saving between 35-60% of their annual lighting costs after retrofitting their lighting with LED linear replacement lamps.

Buildings Magazine recently reported on the energy saving benefits from a lighting retrofit program and 17 mistakes to avoid. Our thanks to author David Laybourn with Lime Energy. This was a helpful guide to some mistakes companies have made in past projects. This is a good learning opportunity even for experienced facility managers and engineers.

Choosing the wrong team- Make sure you select a vendor partner with experience and the ability to help you reach your energy saving goals.

Conflicting Chain of Command- Important to have a project manager that provides direction to the entire team who has budget and negotiating ability.

Neglecting Frontline People- Involve the end-users of the space from the beginning to get their buy-in and insure that they will be happy with finished project.

Calling in Experts Too Late- Involve all needed expertise at the start of the project rather than in the middle or after the project is done.

Underestimating the Importance of a Lighting Audit- The lighting audit provides the foundation for the entire project and integrates the financial goals with appropriate selection of lighting approaches and equipment.

Using the Wrong Approach- Use a system based approach rather than a single manufacturer approach. Energy savings are only maximized when all energy systems work together

Buying Based on price- “Energy-saving retrofit projects bought on price alone are usually a false economy. The few pennies saved upfront can cost thousands in lost savings, increased maintenance costs, and losses in worker productivity. Since the energy savings are paying for the project, why not choose higher quality and avoid risky situations, even if it means adding a few months to the payback?”

To read the full article please visit Buildings Magazinewebsite.

One area not addressed in the article is one of the major obstacles to launching an energy efficient lighting program -the upfront cost. Many utilities offer energy rebates for  upgrading lighting to LED lamps or other more energy efficient technology. Many times these rebate program cans pay for up to 50% of the installation cost.

Recently RedBird LED announced that their four foot Cardinal Linear Replacement LED Lamps were certified by the DesignLights Consortium. These products are the only four foot LED lamps that would qualify for energy rebates  from DLC Utility Company member firms. For more information on these products please visit their website.

Marriott Hotel Undergoes LED Parking Garage Lighting Retrofit

LED lighting played a major role in the recent energyefficient lighting retrofit at Marriott hotel headquarters location in Bethesda, Maryland. They retrofitted not only their corporate offices but also two million square feet of parking and garage space. Marriott said security for employees and guests and energy savings were top priorities when considering new lighting to cover the nearly 45 acres of parking and garage space.

LED lighting typically provides energy savings between 35-70% and their long life expectancy reduces maintenance costs. Marriott estimated their annual savings for the lighting project would be $104,000 per year with an additional maintenance savings of $210,000 over the next 10 years.  As if these savings were not significant enough, the hotel chain also received more than $130,000 in utility rebates and EPACT savings. The cost for the lighting retrofit will be paid for in less than two years.  Energy rebates are very important factors in helping companies reduce a substantial portion of the upfront costs of lighting upgrades or retrofits.

Marriott chose high-efficiency LED lighting to replace traditional 400- to 1,000-watt high-intensity discharge lighting for the headquarters parking garage spaces. This choice also was consistent with their corporate commitment to sustainability.  Marriott has 13 hotels across all of their brands that are Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design or LEED-certified by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), including the headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland.  “We preferred the exceptional output and uniformity of GE ‘s LED lighting,” says Jim Young, vice president, corporate facilities for Marriott International, Inc.  “GE performed a comprehensive lighting audit of our existing system, provided photometric analysis with 3D renderings of the new system, and forecasted our energy and maintenance savings. GE excelled as both a trusted strategic consultant and solutions provider.”

For more information on parking garage lighting retrofits and technical information on LED linear lamps please visit the RedBird LEDwebsite.

Cardinal™ LED Linear Replacement Lamp Products by RedBird LED Receive Certification from the DesignLights Consortium

 RedBirdLED, an Atlanta, GA. firm that specializes in the design, manufacturing and distribution of energy efficient LED linear lighting products announces certification by the Design Lights Consortium (DLC) of their Cardinal LED Linear Retrofit products.Cardinal™ Linear Replacement Lamps are high quality replacements for standard fluorescent tubes (T8 and T12) and provide electrical savings of 35% to 50%.  The DLC is the premier resource for high-quality review and certification of LED lightingproducts that are not covered under the Energy STAR designated categories. RedBird LED has ensured that these products will be eligible for all energy rebate programs currently in place among the DLC's membership and will facilitate rapid approval by other rebate sources as well.


Jonathan Eppstein, RedBird's President says, "Building a product that can pass the extremely tough DLC standards for this category of light has been a challenge. The threshold for approval in the 'Four-foot Linear Replacement Lamps' category is almost twice as high as for any LED class the DLC has previously looked at. Being the first LED product to apply for review in this category has highlighted many aspects of performance needed for a good LED retrofit product that go well beyond simply measuring total lumens produced. In completing the process, we have actually come to realize that our product is even better than previously thought! Throughout this process, we have been impressed with the level of competence and professionalism displayed by the DLC team."


 The DLC membership is a nationwide consortium of utilities, EMCs and energy-efficiency programs across the United States and Canada. By establishing the Cardinal LED tube light's position on the Qualified Product List of the DLC, RedBird LED has ensured that these products will be eligible for all rebate programs currently in place among the DLC's membership and will facilitate rapid approval by other rebate sources as well.

Contact: info@redbirdled.com 678-733-2473, RedBird LED, Inc. 1202 Gail Drive, Atlanta, GA 30319