B. L. Downey Company LLC, one of the nation’s largest providers of e-coating and powder coating for metal products, recently completed the replacement of the overhead lighting system in its 325,000 sq. ft. facility, substantially reducing its annual energy consumption.
The project included removing six hundred and twenty (620) 400-watt metal halide lighting fixtures and replacing them with two hundred and fifteen (215) T5 high output fluorescent fixtures with eight 54-watt lamps in each fixture (432-watt per fixture).
The program was undertaken in conjunction with an incentive program offered by ComEd, one of the nation’s largest electric utilities. Smart Ideas is a portfolio of energy efficiency measures including incentives for equipment, upgrades, improvements, and more. “We’re very pleased to see the significant energy and cost savings resulting from the Smart Ideas incentives for ComEd’s business customers,” said Val Jensen, vice president, Marketing and Environmental Programs, ComEd. “We’re in a challenging business environment and the investments made today toward energy efficient operations can have a positive impact on future electricity bills and the environment.”
“Lighting usually is one of the top three energy drains and can represent 10% to 50% of a company’s electrical costs. With its retrofit, we estimate that B.L. Downey Company will reduce its usage of electrical energy by over 500,000 kWh (kilo-watt hours) per year,”
said Joseph Ball, Senior Energy Consultant for KEMA, the company that implements ComEd’s incentive program.
B.L. Downey Company president, David C. Wasz, said, “We are pleased to provide a brighter work environment for our employees and reduce our energy consumption. B.L. Downey Company is committed to doing its part to conserve energy. While the upfront investment in the project was significant, we will realize energy savings within the next 12 to 18 months to fully recover our investment. But more importantly, we’re reducing the amount of power we consume, thereby doing our part to reduce our carbon footprint.”
B. L. Downey Company’s lighting improvement project was assisted by energy services provider Half The Energy LLC, which completed a lighting analysis and coordinated the program with ComEd and KEMA. Half The Energy also removed and recycled
the old halide fixtures and lamps.
“We encourage other manufacturers to consider investing in energy efficient lighting,” continued Wasz, “The project was well worth the investment of time, manpower, and money. Everyone benefits.”
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