Have you made a difference personally in helping your community and/or business on making the world a more efficient place to live?  We’re four months away from the year 2011, make your goals today!  Are you working for a company that could be more “green / more efficient”? If you are not sure, researching and speaking out are the first steps.

For information on how companies, such as Aelux, LLC can help you, please visit www.aelux.com or call toll free to speak with an Aelux Representative 866-44-AELUX today.

Still hesitate to make the plunge to energy efficiency…read about how Aelux saved Motorola an annual energy savings of $70,954.

You may be surprised to learn that Food Sales, Food Services, Health Care, Offices and Lodging Facilities all consumer more electricity than the average commercial building. (http://www.eia.doe.gov)

A lighting retrofit can certainly help to plug this drain.  Read how a leading branded food company gained an annual energy savings of $10,633 and reduced their carbon footprint by 82 tons with a warehouse lighting retrofit.

Thinking you are in the clear if you consume less than the average commercial building – that may not be the case.

energy use for educational facilities

For example, while education facilities consumer less electricity than the average commercial building, lighting accounts for the majority of their electricity use.  There is a lot of money to be saved on lighting cost for any facility – just one reason why your business should consider a lighting audit.  Worried about cost – there are many rebates, grants and other incentives to help, and many lighting retrofit projects can be initiated with little or no money down.

A lighting audit is a great way to put your sustainability plan into action.  You will save money and often increase productivity as you create a more comfortable workplace for your employees.

Read more about starting with a professional lighting audit.   

Many of us feel caught up in the current economic uncertainty. It is pleasant to remember better days when the economy was thriving and corporate resources were being invested in robust expansion. Now those expansions are getting older.  Many of the commercial buildings in use today were built pre-1980.  At the time they were built few people were thinking about energy costs and the environmental imperative of “going green”. Truthfully, most of us were lusting after the biggest V8s we could afford.
How times have changed – hybrid cars, the whole idea of less is more, recycled everything – but what about these buildings?  They were built to last; but not to be efficient.

So what can we expect for today and beyond?

Even as economic conditions improve, today’s executive will be cautious about expansion, especially expansion into more bricks and mortar. They will look to their current buildings and demand ways to increase efficiency and reduce costs. They are conscious of being good corporate citizens and are profit motivated managers.

What is the best way to modernize these buildings, and what will drive the decision-making?

Certainly energy is going to be a key driver.  According to the US Department of Energy (DOE), lighting represents 40% of the average commercial building’s electric bill, and an expensive component considering the average commercial retail cost of electricity rose nearly 25% over the past five years to $0.1013/kWh as of November 2008.  And according to the Energy Cost Savings Council, lighting upgrades generate an average project payback period of 2.2 years and a 45% return on investment. [New energy estimates indicate continued increases in energy costs, with electric costs rising 10% to 30% in the next 3 to 5 years]

As a result, energy-efficient lighting is generally considered the easiest, most profitable investment in energy saving building systems.  Even so, less than 20% of the existing pre-1980 U.S. Commercial building stock has benefited from some form of lighting renovation, according to the 2003 Commercial Building Energy Consumption Survey produced by DOE.  The survey found that there were 4.6 million commercial buildings (excluding malls) in the U.S., representing about 65 billion sq. ft. of floor space.  About 2.5 million buildings, representing 60% of buildings and 57% of floor space, were built before 1980.  Of these, about a million have benefited from some form of renovation.

Of the 1 million that were renovated, was energy efficient lighting a part of the upgrade?

Unfortunately not – Lighting renovations, while a popular form of renovation, have occurred in only 18% of pre-1980 buildings, suggesting that there are about 25 billion sq ft of building floor space still lighted to pre-1980 standards and likely using the least-efficient lighting systems allowed by law.  The rest represent today’s best candidates for lighting upgrades.

Lighting efficiency has the potential to be a “winner” in today’s economy.  Not only is operating cost savings via lighting efficiency a door opener, but imagine the greater worker satisfaction with a quality lighting design – it can certainly be a ladder that escalates performance on any projects.

Are you wondering if your commercial building is a good candidate for a lighting retrofit?  Contact an Aelux Lighting Consultant today to have your questions answered and learn more about lighting rebates.

(Source: Illuminate Magazine)

Generally speaking this is often overlooked, but in light of the recent rate increases in Pennsylvania this is now taking a priority for many businesses.

Many citizens and businesses in Pennsylvania were greeted with a dramatic electric rate increase. The problem is that this rate increase comes at a time of fairly extreme economic difficulties for many companies. .

So what’s the solution?

As noted above, an overlooked part of the electric bill (and fairly expensive one) is warehouse lighting. In recent years there has been more and more advanced technology regarding lighting, and to make this more attractive there are currently many tax benefits and a cost reduction program that come from the power company themselves.

In a nutshell a significant part of the cost of upgrading to energy efficient lighting for your warehouse may be offset by these programs.

Aelux can assist you though the entire process and reduce your electric bills by taking advantage of the existing programs. You really have nothing to lose by exploring this option.

The alternative of course is to continue to pay the huge increase from the electric companies with no reduction in power usage to offset the increased rates.

It’s typically a pretty clear cut option, see what a firm like Aelux can do for you and your company. If the solution presented will reduce your monthly power bill, and due to the tax benefits and financial assistance from the power companies reduce your total cost, then clearly it’s something that your company needs to explore.

Lighting retrofits epitomize this scenario. These projects can help facilities reduce energy use and create more efficient and aesthetically pleasing indoor environments, but only if planners base their decisions on accurate information. Companies often view lighting-upgrade projects as a revenue drain, when in fact they represent a positive cash flow that renews itself year after year. They tend to get focused on one solution, like a lamp and ballast retrofit, which limits the options and opportunities.

Aelux ensures that you will make an informed decision based on a comprehensive analysis including a proposal that clearly defines why a particular retrofit recommendation was made and a photometric analysis to substantiate the retrofit recommendation. Also expect to see what the energy and cost savings will be, and what rebate and tax incentives are available. Additional detail should include an explanation of tax benefits, fixture and component spec sheets, warranty information, environmental benefits and a transparent description of model inputs.

Understanding Energy Consumption:

Utilities bill their customers in several ways including an energy use charge, demand charge, power factor charge, fuel adjustment charge and other charges. Here is a look at Energy Consumption:

Energy Consumption (kWh) = Input Watts (kW) x Time (hours operated in a given year)

To reduce energy consumption we can do two things. Reduce the input wattage or reduce the hours of operation. Input wattage can be reduced by replacing lamps and ballasts with more-energy-efficient counterparts or by removing lamps and ballasts. The hours of operation can be reduced by using sophisticated controls and other methods.

Think of it this way: If only 1 traditional light bulb was replaced by an ENERGY STAR CFL in every home in America, in only 1 year it would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes and prevent greenhouse gas emissions equal to that of more than 800,000 cars. So why haven’t you made the switch yet?

This blog has previously note that the U.S. Department of Energy reports that lighting represents 40% of the average commercial building’s electric bill and the Energy Cost Savings Council, reports that energy–efficient lighting projects generate an average 45% return on investment, paying for themselves in just 2.2 years. And yet, 80% of existing commercial buildings operate lighting systems installed before 1986.
A lighting upgrade will substantially increase that Energy GPA, as well as the energy cost drain on your company’s bottom line. A great place to start is the Aelux Resources page.

If you haven’t updated your lighting recently, you are wasting material – namely dollars. You can calculate how much with our energy savings calculator.

Lighting can represent as much as 30 percent of a building’s energy usage, so changes to lighting can mean significant energy savings.

RELAMP
Even if you just re-lamped your buildings 3 years ago, take a lighting survey again. Lighting continuously gets more efficient. Converting to more efficient lamps and ballasts saves
total building energy.

DE-LAMP and DISCONNECT UNUSED BALLASTS
Many buildings are just too bright. If de-lamping
opportunities exist, you may be able to go from 4 lamps in perimeter down to 2 lamps and from
4 lamps to 3 lamps in interior spaces. Also be sure to have unused ballasts identified and disconnected.

SEE IF ANYONE IS LEAVING LIGHTS ON
Periodically, stay at work late or drive past after hours to identify additional opportunities for energy savings. Pay attention to exterior lighting as well.

INSTALL OCCUPANCY SENSORS
Install occupancy sensors to automatically turn off lights when physical movement stops. This
strategy may be especially effective in spaces that are used infrequently, such as storerooms and conference rooms. Occupancy sensors work not just for lights but also for HVAC controls.

USE HIGH EFFICIENCY LED EXIT SIGNS
Replace inefficient exit signs with high efficiency LED exit signs. LED exit signs operate 24/7 and
have lower maintenance costs due to their extended life.

AELUX welcomes companies to contact any Aelux team member for a no-cost lighting audit that addresses each of the above issues and more! BOMA’s complete list of recommendations is posted here.