24B — April 29 - May 12, 2016 — Green Buildings — M id A tlantic
Real Estate Journal
www.marejournal.com
G reen B uildings
By George Crawford, Green Partners LLC LED to the Rescue: “Back of the Envelope” Formulas Evaluate the Potential of a LED
L
ED lighting is energy ef- ficient, has a long useful life, and with recent ad-
form to include installations in high end department stores, where lighting is a critical fac- tor in product display. LED lighting is also now utilized by museums as well as art galler- ies, which also have high qual- ity lighting demands. These are all users that do not settle for second best solutions. So for those who have facility responsibilities, there should be no question that there are LED solutions available for retro-fits that can meet even the most exacting requirements. At the same time with LED products, you are not looking at a trade-
off or compromise – higher levels of lighting quality vs. cost savings. With LED you get both. With regard to savings side of the LED platform, the energy/ cost savings from a LED retro- fit can be very substantial, es- pecially when you consider the fact that these savings are not a one-time payment - like a Con Ed rebate - but are ongoing and continue year after year. The actual savings realized for any one project will depend on the level efficiency (or inefficiency) of the lighting to be replaced by LED. Here are some quick
“back of the envelope” formulas to evaluate the potential of a LED retro-fit for your facility. Incandescent to LED - If you have a facility that has a high percentage of incandescent lighting, a retro-fit to LED will result in a very high level of en- ergy reduction. What drives the energy reduction? Most LED lamps only consume about 10% of the energy as compared to an incandescent lamp. The signifi- cantly lower levels of LED ener- gy consumption as compared to incandescent lighting following a LED retro-fit equates to very low energy bills. Think in terms
of a payback in under twelve months. Your utility bills will drop to the point where the ac- crued utility bill savings in just under one year will offset the cost of the LED product used to replace the incandescent lighting. If your retro-fit quali- fies for Con Ed funding, expect your payback to improve from less than twelve months to just two or three months. Fluorescent to LED - If your facility is heavily weighted toward older fluorescent prod- ucts, a retro-fit to LED tubes will also result in energy sav- ings. Think in terms of a pay- back based on lower utility bills in the twenty four month range. With Con Ed funding, the pay- back period will improve to the twelve month range. Fluorescent to Facility Up- grade Utilizing LED Lighting Fixtures – If your facility is in need of an upgrade, include LED lighting ceiling fixtures as part of your retro-fit. Instead of just replacing the fluorescent lamps with LED tubes, replace the old lighting with new LED fixtures. The combination of the new fixtures with new ceiling tiles will dramatically improve the look of your facility. Your upgrade will self-finance with the savings realized from the energy saved from the LED products. Think in terms of a three year payback based on your lower utility bills. With Con Ed funding, the payback period will be reduced to about two years. Remember, you will not receive Con Ed funding for the new fixtures or the new ceiling tiles, but the energy re- duction from the LED products will finance the project – it will just take a little more time for the accrued energy savings to do the job. The next step that needs to be addressed before jumping into the LED pond is the LED product itself - specifically LED quality issues. There are a large number of LED quality products available. There are also a large number of lesser quality LED products promoted as lower cost alternatives. Don’t even think of going there. Focus only on high end quality manu- facturers such as Phillips, Hub- bell or Acuity, whose products come with warranties as well as Energy Star or DLC designa- tions. These designations are a qualifying requirement for Con Ed funding. While there are many quality continued on page 25B
vances meets high levels of specifica- tion require- ments. And most impor- tantly, LED l i gh t i ng i s very cost ef- fective – to put it mildly.
George Crawford
As to LED products meeting high levels of specifications, more recent advancements have expanded the LED plat-
Green Partners is your one-stop energy efficiency consultant. We offer low cost solutions to help meet compliance requirements for PlaNYC Greener, Greater Buildings legislation.
• Local Law 87 - Energy Audits and Retro-Commissioning • Local Law 84 - Benchmarking and Energy Star
We can save money on your energy bills with LED Lighting solutions through our
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