Sunday September 05 , 2010

Category: Lighting Maintenance and Retrofit

Lighting Energy Calculators – GE Toolkit

Figuring out how to calculate energy savings could be a bit difficult depending on the nature of your lighting retrofit. Lucky for us, many websites have an energy calculator tool. In this example, GE has a few nice calculators. Usable (at the very least) to those who have the most basic understanding of lighting and its terminology.

Lighting Energy Calculators

At GE Consumer & Industrial, we want to help lighting professionals and their customers save energy costs. See for yourself the difference these seven simple estimating tools can make.

Calculators:
Simple Energy Estimator – Watts Per Square Foot Estimator – Lighting Layout Estimator – Fixture Replacement Estimator – Dimming System Watts Estimator – Cost of Waiting Estimator – Simple Life-Cycle Cost Estimator – Lighting Calculators Continued

A&K Energy Conservation, Inc. | HQ:15552 US HWY 301, Dade City, FL, 33523 | 800-228-5241 | akenergy.com

  • Share/Bookmark
 

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act – Ohio 15 Million

Another good example of the ARRA (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) at work. If you haven’t looked in to the ARRA and what it could do for your business, you may be missing out.

Columbus, Ohio – 28 Ohio projects will receive $15 million in grant awards funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant: Local Governments program. These awards are part of the total $25 million allocated to the State of Ohio through the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program. Energy Efficiency Grant – Continued

A&K Energy Conservation, Inc. | HQ:15552 US HWY 301, Dade City, FL, 33523 | 800-228-5241 | akenergy.com

  • Share/Bookmark
 

Lighting Retrofit Earns Award for ‘Energy Project of the Year’

It’s nice to see businesses getting recognition for doing significant alterations to their energy usage. In Fayetteville, TN, Fushi Copperweld Inc. did a retrofit from an HID (High Intensity Discharge) High Pressure Sodium fixture to a Fluorescent fixture.

In just one year, the facility will reduce its annual electricity usage for lighting by nearly 66%- 2.1 million kWh- a reduction which, combined with tax and maintenance savings, will yield a total savings of approximately $300,000. Fushi Copperweld projects the new lighting scheme will have paid for itself in just eleven months.

We noticed that the tax and maintenance savings were calculated in with the energy savings. This was VERY SMART.

FAYETTEVILLE, Tenn., March 25 /PRNewswire-Asia/ — The Center for Energy Efficiency (CEE) at Middle Tennessee State University has granted its 2010 award for “Energy Project of the Year” to Fushi Copperweld ( FSIN)’s wire manufacturing plant in Lincoln County, Tennessee.

Sponsored by the Middle Tennessee Chapter of the Association of Energy Engineers, the prestigious award recognizes businesses, individuals, or organizations that demonstrate innovation in their implementation of energy efficiency projects. Fushi Copperweld’s American operation was chosen to receive the award for having completed a total retrofit of the lighting grid at its 298,000 square-foot facility last August.

Lighting Retrofit Earns Award – Continued

A&K Energy Conservation, Inc. | HQ:15552 US HWY 301, Dade City, FL, 33523 | 800-228-5241 | akenergy.com

  • Share/Bookmark
 

Energy Efficient Incentives – Take Advantage

There are programs at the local, State and Federal levels that encourage energy efficiency with incentives. If your facility(s) plans to do an energy efficient project, do yourself a favor and see what’s available.

For example, you decided to do a lighting retrofit of an office space(s) located in Long Island, NY. Your local utility would be LIPA (Long Island Power Authority). Let’s say from T12 fluorescent to new T8 fluorescent fixtures. Your incentive would be $20 per fixture as long as they meet 80% overall efficiency. Multiply that by 2,000 fixtures.
$40,000 is definitely not something that could be ignored easily.
LIPA commercial lighting prescriptive program pdf

That’s just one utility in one state. Sometimes it may be hard to figure out where to look to get answers for incentives in your area. A great place to look would be DSIRE. The Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency. It is very thorough and easy to sort out.

DSIRE is a comprehensive source of information on state, local, utility and federal incentives and policies that promote renewable energy and energy efficiency. Established in 1995 and funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, DSIRE is an ongoing project of the N.C. Solar Center and the Interstate Renewable Energy Council.

Again, there is nothing to lose by looking and everything to gain.

  • Share/Bookmark
 

Your building could have an Energy Star Label

Energy Efficient design could earn your business an Energy Star Label

energystar.gov

While you are trying to earn the LEED building certification, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to include the Energy Star label. Every little bit counts and it doesn’t hurt when the EPA promotes your organization to the press.

Energy Star Engineering Guide

Save More, Use Less, and Earn the ENERGY STAR
Did you know that a building or manufacturing plant can earn the ENERGY STAR label just like your refrigerator? An ENERGY STAR qualified facility meets strict energy performance standards set by EPA and uses less energy, is less expensive to operate, and causes fewer greenhouse gas emissions than its peers. Energy use in commercial buildings and manufacturing plants accounts for nearly half of all energy consumption in the U.S. at a cost of over $200 billion per year, more than any other sector of the economy. Commercial and industrial facilities are also responsible for nearly half of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions which contribute to global warming.

Earn your Energy Star Label – Continued

  • Share/Bookmark