The need to stimulate the economy and grow a Green Collar Workforce is undeniable.  In fact, one of the topics discussed in this week's State of Green Business Forum was the current condition of the green job market.  The press has spent many thousands of words writing about the stimulus package up for vote now and the previous administration's bail out package.  What hasn't been detailed is exactly how some of this spending creates actual green jobs.  There are many pieces to this puzzle some of which are a qualified workforce, the opportunity, funding and the technology required to solve these problems.  I'm sure there are many examples that can be detailed in this manner, but I hope this specific case helps the public understand how the money flows from this spending down to our local economy.

More...

Jerry Yudelson of Tucson-based Green Building Consultant, Yudelson Associates, projects that the green building industry will grow significantly in 2009.  Yudelson has just published his Top Ten List of Green Building Trends for the coming year.  In it, he shows great enthusiasm for the industry despite the macro economic conditions resulting from the credit crisis and other economic malaise.

"What we're seeing is that more people are going green each year, and there is nothing on the horizon that will stop this trend," explains Yudelson. "In putting together my Top Ten trends for 2009, I'm taking advantage of conversations I've had with green building leaders in the U.S., Canada, Europe and the Middle East over the past year."

We're very glad that Jerry agrees that we will see an increase in the greening of existing buildings this year (see #3).  We believe that lighting retrofit projects are one of the easiest to plan, design and complete and they also provide one of the quickest return on investments. Lighting retrofit projects are the "low hanging fruit" of the green building movement for existing buildings.  Jerry's complete top ten list is shown below.

More...

Effective January 5th, 2009, Idaho Power has improved their Easy Upgrades program by increasing the incentives available to building owners performing energy-efficient lighting retrofits.

Since early 2007, Idaho Power's Easy Upgrades program has helped commercial and industrial property owners improve their existing buildings. Easy Upgrades offers incentives of up to $100,000 for enhancing the efficiency of ighting, cooling systems and other commercial equipment. Since its introduction, over 600 energy-saving projects have been completed and earned incentive payments through the Easy Upgrades program. Those projects are saving more than 30 million kilowatt hours per year, enough energy to power about 2,000 typical homes.

The table below summarizes the incentives available for lighting retrofit projects through Idaho Power's Easy Upgrades program:

More...

Commissioner Randall Presents $88,000 Incentive Check to Company for Incorporating Energy Efficiency Measures into Facility.

(NEWARK, NJ) – New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) Commissioner Elizabeth Randall today attended a special ceremony in Ramsey to recognize Glatt Air Techniques for its energy savings leadership shown by incorporating energy efficiency measures into its facility.

“I am always proud to be present when a New Jersey company is being honored for energy conservation,” said Commissioner Randall. “It is gratifying to see that more and more ommercial and industrial organizations are opting for efficiency when making their renovation plans.”

During the ceremony, Commissioner Randall presented Darryl Haffner, CPR, Chief Maintenance and Facility Processing Equipment Manager at Glatt Air, with an $88,000 incentive check for incorporating a series of energy efficiency measures in two primary areas: lighting and heat recovery. The technology upgrades are projected to save 294,334 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity annually, along with a total demand reduction of 91.29 kilowatts (kW) and 680 million BTUs of natural gas – which is equivalent to taking approximately 45 passenger vehicles off the road for one year.

More...

For years, the standard method of lighting gymnasiums has been the 400W Metal Halide High Bay. This has led to gyms with deteriorating light levels and poor playing conditions that are expensive to operate. New technologies have allowed lighting designers to specify T5 High Output (T5HO) Fluorescent High Bay Fixtures in place of the more inefficient metal halide fixtures. This shift has reduced the power consumption of gymnasium lighting systems, provided better quality light for all sports activities, and has allowed for a more versatile environment in school or recreational center gyms.

More...

Welcome to the first in a series of lighting retrofit case studies we will be publishing in the coming months.  In this series, we highlight customers in various industries that have gone through a lighting retrofit in their facility to take advantage of more energy-efficient technology.  This lighting retrofit case study can be used as an example of what is attainable via a lighting retrofit by those interested in undergoing similar retrofit projects.  If you have a facility type that we have not covered, please feel free to leave a comment or contact us.  We have been involved in many lighting retrofit projects and may be able to call upon our previous clients for specific data needed for a case study.

Company Background

Innovative Packaging produces all types of corrugated packaging products and serves the Indiana, Michigan and Ohio markets. The company designs all products to customer specifications and can take projects from conception to a final corrugated piece delivered to the customers location. That final product may be a printed or labeled carton, point of purchase display with graphics, or any number of specialty die cuts.

The Opportunity

Innovative Packaging operates out of a 118,800 square foot facility that is used for both production and warehousing.  Prior to the lighting retrofit, the facility was predominantly lit with 400 W Metal Halide fixtures.  Light levels were very low throughout the area so the company had also installed 4' and 8' T12 Linear Fluorescent strips over work areas to improve the light levels where needed.

More...

As part of a company-wide initiative to combat rising energy costs, Lear Corp (NYSE:LEA) has begun the installation of new energy-efficient plant lighting in more than 1 million square feet of manufacturing and warehouse space in five of it’s facilities in Mexico and Honduras. The lighting retrofits will deliver more than $3.1 million in electrical savings over the next five years and eliminate more than 4.8 million tons of carbon emissions per year.

The plants, which are required to purchase electricity from the local government-owned utilities, are paying up to $0.14 per kilowatt hour for power. The more efficient T5 lighting system has allowed them to reduce their energy needs and has also led to improved safety, security and worker satisfaction.  Lear expects the project will pay for itself in less than twelve months.

More...

We're often asked how 4-lamp and 6-lamp T5HO High Bays fare when compared with traditional 400W Metal Halide fixtures.  The chart below compares 4-lamp and 6-lamp T5 fixtures against a traditional 400W Metal Halide High Bay along a number of dimensions.  The comparison dimensions are listed below with a short description of each.

More...

T5 and T5HO fluorescent high bay fixtures and other T5-based specialty lights are built around a linear fluorescent tube lamp.  Like other types of lamps, the number in the name of the lamp reflects its size.  The “T5” name reflects the diameter of the tube in eighths of an inch.  A T5 lamp is five-eighths of an inch (5/8”).  Similarly, a T8 lamp is eight-eighths (or one inch) in diameter and a T12 is 12 eighths (or 1-1/2 inches) in diameter.  One of the features that make a T5 bulb and T5-based high bay light fixtures more efficient is the fact that the lamp is 37% narrower tube than a T8 and over 55% narrower than a T12 lamp.

More...

Like many smart companies, cost-control is of paramount importance to Innovative Packaging.  That’s why the Company has completed a $35,000 project to retrofit all of the high bay lighting in its 115,000 square foot facility with energy-efficient T5 fluorescent fixtures from Electrical Marketplace. By doing so, Innovative Packaging will lower operating costs associated with lighting by more than 46%.

Innovative Packaging was able to reduce its energy demands by more than 128 Megawatts per year by replacing all of the aging and costly 400 Watt metal halide fixtures with new, energy-efficient T5 fluorescent high bays.  This switch will prevent the emission of more than 147 tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.  The new fixtures provide better quality light and are expected to improve productivity and warehouse safety.

More...