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 By retrofitting their outdated lights now, businesses can not only take advantage of the incentives that will likely be discontinued, but they will also avoid increased costs of replacing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.

The Future of LED Lighting is Now

When LEDs were discovered in the‘60s, they had relatively limited applications. Now, however, they’re doing hundreds of different types of jobs. They give light to traffic signals, take the place of LCDs in television sets, light up the jumbo boards at entertainment arenas, illuminate streets, parking lots and provide architectural and spot lighting for building exteriors and interior spaces. Adoption of these and other applications has been growing exponentially because, other than the sun, LEDs are the most efficient light source on the planet.

Smarter Than The Average Bulb

LEDs are different than conventional bulbs in that they fit directly into an electrical circuit. Instead of creating light by heating filaments or electronically exciting mercury vapor or other gases, they are illuminated by electrons that run through the semiconductor material to which they’re attached. Because there are no filaments, LEDs don’t get hot and, due to their efficiency, they require far less electric power than traditional light bulbs. They’re about 10 times more efficient than incandescent bulbs and double the efficiency of fluorescents. When you consider that they last 6 times longer than fluorescents (and easily outlast incandescent and HID bulbs by 40 times), the equation can yield a savings of up to 80% on lighting costs. Since lighting accounts for approximately 40% of total energy spend in buildings (lighting consumes 29% of all the electricity in the US), an LED retrofit can cut anenergy bill up to 40%!

True, LEDs are significantly more expensive to purchase initially—but the ROI over just one year is phenomenal, and the cost is continually coming down. LEDs are also much kinder to the environment and eliminate the hazards of mercury toxicity, CO2 emissions, etc.

Numbers Don’t Lie

Imagine an office with a bay of 2' x 4' fluorescent tubes that run from 9-5 weekdays at a cost of about $100 per year for electricity. To light the same area, LED tubes would cost only $30 a year. Every 100 lighting bays, therefore, represents an annual savings potential of 7,000—even more, actually, because of the life expectancy of the bulbs. The LEDs will last for 50,000 hours (25 years at 2,000 hours per typical year); by comparison, the fluorescent bulbs will burn for an estimated 20,000 hours, and they will lose 60% of their light output after 12,000 hours. The reduced maintenance costs could boost lighting savings beyond 80%.

Of the 1.5 billion sf of central business district office inventory in the US, the average floor plate is approximately 25,000 sf. Fire codes typically require one fire escape per 10,000 sf.
Extrapolating from that, there are approximately 150,000 fire escape doors in the central business districts of the nation. If just these fire escape doors were retrofit with LED tube bulbs, applying the 80% savings factor would result in a national savings of $54 million (or an expenditure of $13.5 million per year as opposed to the $67.5 million for the currently used low-tech fluorescent tubes). Over an 8-year period, the collective savings would exceed $400 million for just fire door illumination!

A major east coast hotel with significant convention and meeting space had a run rate of just over 5 million kWh per year for its lighting. The annualized lighting cost for 2009 was slated to be $492,000; with deregulation in 2010, the cost could have increased to $690,000. In 2009, however, the hotel performed an LED retrofit. It is now projected that electricity consumption will drop to just over 665,000 kWh and the lighting costs for 2010 will be just under 90,000—an annual savings of $600,000! For a million square feet, the $.60 per sf tax deduction adds another $600,000. In a 33 percent tax bracket, the net to bottom line savings is $200,000.

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Redbird LED is your resource for quality engineered and designed LED Tube lights. We offer value pricing so you can increase your ROI from this investment even faster. Please call us for more information on financing programs and tax incentives. For more information please us at 678.REDBIRD or www.redbirdled.com