A large manufacturing client recently contacted EDE to request a quote for lighting for their new addition. We gathered all the necessary data, reviewed the drawings, and provided our quote along with the estimated energy savings, rebate amounts, project ROI, and Cost of Ownership.
The architect and general contractor for the new addition specified a 300W, 130 lumen per watt (39,000 lumen) LED fixture, without sensors or controls. Energy Design Engineers specified a 200W (40,000 lumen) fixture, with network lighting controls.
Let’s take a quick look at this project and the difference in the two designs and their outcomes:
Architect & General Contractor Design & Outcome
- 300W LED Fixture (one fixture)
- 39,000 lumens of light (one fixture)
- 24 x 7 energy consumption equals (one week – one fixture): 50,400W
- 3-month energy consumption (one fixture) is 650,160W
Energy Design Engineers Design & Outcome
- 200W LED Fixture (one fixture)
- 40,000 lumens of light (one fixture)
- 24 x 7 energy consumption equals (one week – one fixture before controls): 33,600W
- 3-month energy consumption (one fixture) is 468,000W
- 3-month energy consumption (one fixture) with network lighting controls NLC) is 280,800W
This is what keeps us up at night. Fortune 1000 companies are unaware that this is happening. Utilities are asking their customers and providing larger rebates for NLC. The utilities have case studies, and Energy Design Engineers has hundreds of clients with NLC, achieving 70-80% energy savings. Yet, Corporate America is ignoring it. Why, their architects and general contractors are ignoring it, and Corporate America is relying on them for design and guidance.
The 369,360-watt variance per fixture is huge for three months. Now imagine a building with 200 – 1,000 fixtures. Some may say well my business is only open 24 x 5 or some other hours. The savings as a percentage will work out the same regardless of the building’s size and the number of fixtures.
Energy Design Engineers has consistently provided, on average, 80% energy savings over fluorescent lighting systems that they have retrofitted. This data is again over hundreds of projects. For the past 15 years, Energy Design Engineers has not sold and installed a lighting system that did not include network lighting controls, whether for a car dealership, grocery store, warehouse, or manufacturing plant.
If your company is installing new projects and or retrofitting projects with an LED-only fixture that your architect, local supplier, or co-worker recommends, you are most likely creating a large amount of energy waste and carbon that your company doesn’t need.
Our energy savings were based on the fixture that the architect specified in the project. Fortunately, for the company, their facilities manager had worked with Energy Design Engineers at a 400,000 sq ft manufacturing plant previously, and that project was a home run (1.4 year payback).
If you would like to discuss a project, email us at info@energydesignengineers.com or text us at 734.730.9758, and let us know how we can help.