More major sustainable developments have been made in Arizona! The state is moving toward becoming more “green” and energy efficient by making changes in its traffic and street lighting. Ameresco, an energy services company, has been working with Phoenix Public Works and Street Transportation since October to plan to install LED traffic lights at Phoenix’s 860 intersections.
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Philips announced they have manufactured the world’s first LED replacement lamp for the 60-watt incandescent. In a press release on February 15, Philips said their 12.5-watt equivalent lasts 25 times longer and consumes 80% less energy than the 60-watt incandescent lamps. The Philips Ambient LED lamp (also can be found under the name Philips EnduraLED in some stores) is also the first of its kind to earn Energy Star Certification. In order to qualify for an Energy Star certification on your product, a lamp must have an output of 800 lumens, color rendering index of 80, 2700K color temperature, and a three year minimum warranty. Philips said their lamp meets the above qualifications, exceeding the lumen output at 806 lumens and also carries a six year warranty. Philips also features efficient LED lamps that are equivalent to 25 and 40-watt incandescent lamps.
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Next month is Earth Month, and what better way to celebrate by attending a sustainability festival! On April 15-17, GreenStocksRock will be hosting its second Greenstock Expo & Concert Series in Scottsdale at The Scottsdale WaterFront and South Bridge.
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If you think about all the lighting in a grocery store, you’ll realize they are huge energy wasters. There is the overall lighting, along with hundreds of lights in freezer cases and display areas, not to mention all the energy the refrigeration systems consume keeping the products chilled. Many grocery stores are updating their lighting and refrigeration systems to reduce energy costs. In Jefferson City, Missouri, Schulte Grocery store was recently presented with a $14,000 award for renovating its refrigeration system. The refrigeration system doesn’t run constantly anymore. If the computer detects a fluctuation in temperature, then the cooling system kicks on. The grocery store also installed LED lighting. Dan Cummins, official at Hussman, the company in charge of the renovation, said LED lighting is the way of the future for grocery stores.
Fresh & Easy just announced that the company wants four more stores to become GreenChill certified, GreenChill works in conjunction with the United States Environmental Protection Agency to reduce refrigerant emissions and help the environment. Fresh & Easy’s first GreenChill store opened in 2010, and now the company has eight GreenChill certified stores, the most of any grocery company in the United States. Some of the changes Fresh & Easy has made to becoming more energy efficient are: installing energy efficient doors in freezer and display cases along with triple-pane glass with anti-fog coating to eliminate door heaters to defog the doors, night curtain on refrigerators, and LED lighting in all chilled cases. Tim Mason, Fresh & Easy CEO, says the GreenChill certified stores consume 30% less energy than many supermarkets.
In 2005, a McKinley, Texas Walmart store installed LED freezer case lighting. The lighting produced less heat, consumed 70% less energy than previous lamps, and saved the store a significant amount of money on electricity and maintenance costs. Now, all Walmart stores have LED lighting in their freezer cases, along with rolling out LED parking lot lighting. Grocery stores, switch to LED lighting for extraordinary savings!
Going green doesn’t necessarily mean you have to make million dollar purchases on energy efficient products. There are ways you can improve your business practices starting tomorrow morning!
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In spring 2008, the Better Day BP in Racine, Wisconsin was the first gas station to have an all-LED exterior. Since then, many gas stations have gone the same route, but it’s important to acknowledge the first! Tom Tousis, owner of the gas station, wanted to save money on energy costs, but wanted an attractive station, so he chose to install 56 LED fixtures.
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George Karolis, Vice President of corporate development and real estate at Asbury Automotive Group and owner of a recently retrofitted Lexus dealership, couldn’t have said it better. Automobile dealerships’ number one concern is customer satisfaction. Car salesmen don’t want to be worrying about burned out or broken lamps while tending to customer needs, which makes LED lighting an optimal choice, said Karolis. The lights consume less energy, last longer, and have a better quality of light. Karolis’ Lexus dealership in Roswell, Georgia, replaced its exterior 750-1000 watt fixtures with Qnuru LEDs. The retrofit reduced lighting costs 86.6%, and the lamps have 19% more lumen output.
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As we’ve mentioned in previous blogs, Arizona is making leaps and strides in becoming a more sustainable state, especially in lighting retrofits. Another project in the city of Phoenix that began over the summer will help residents and business owners become more “green.” Energize Phoenix is a $25 million project funded by the U.S. Department of Energy Better Buildings Program and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that will transform a 10 mile stretch of the Valley Metro Light Rail into the “Green Rail Corridor” by making energy efficient changes to various buildings and neighborhoods.
According to the Energize Phoenix website, some goals of this project include reducing home energy consumption by 30%, decreasing commercial energy consumption by 18%, decreasing carbon emissions by 50,000 metric tons annually, and retrofitting 2,000 homes and 30 million square feet of business space. Homes, businesses, and factories between Central Avenue and Camelback Road and 44th Street and Washington can submit their street addresses to the Energize Phoenix website to see what incentives they apply for, including energy efficient air conditioners, windows, and water heaters. The project is also expected to create 1,900 to 2,700 “green” jobs! Everyone is benefitting! The website also has some useful energy saving tips for homeowners and businesses that do not qualify for the energy efficient incentives, but would also like to save. For example, if 10% of Arizona installed a solar water heater, it would be the equivalent of removing 57,000 cars off the road, said the website.
If you want more information on how to qualify for Energize Phoenix or how to get involved, please visit www.energizephx.com.
The initial costs of solid state lighting has unfortunately turned customers to CFLs or other inexpensive lighting alternatives until prices come down, which they are forecasted to in the upcoming year. We are lucky to have the decision of what kind of lighting we buy, as many developing countries are still burning candles and kerosene through the night. According to an article on Edhat Santa Barbara’s website, not having safe, sufficient lighting is linked to poverty, health problems, and illiteracy. Osef Darwka, president of Ghana Telecom University, wants to change that and provide alternative lighting to third-world countries.
Darwka met with the president of the Institute of Energy Efficiency at the University of California Santa Barbara, John Bowers, knowing that the institute works on highly efficient lighting and solar cells. He asked them to develop a safe, affordable reading light that can be used in developing countries. Bowers, with engineers Dave Schmidt and Norman Gardner, and help from Engineers Without Borders, put together a team to develop an efficient solar powered LED lamp. The lamp is eight times more efficient than incandescent lamps, and can store an hour of LED light for every two hours of daylight it is exposed to, thanks to the solar cells. The lamp costs $7, and comes with a rechargeable AA battery. Claude Dorais, president of Unite to Light, the nonprofit organization in Santa Barbara that supplies these lamps to the countries, said the lamp will cost virtually nothing, except for the rechargeable battery, which be replaced when the person brings it to be recycled.
The first 100 lamps have already been shipped to Ghana back in July, and another 1,200 will be shipped late December to Ghana, Haiti, and Kenya. The goal is to have 10,000 LED lamps shipped in 2011 to these countries and other developing countries. We commend the engineers who developed this inexpensive, yet sustainable lamp for people who may not be able to afford solid state lighting in other countries!
A new radio show focusing on sustainability will be launched this week in Arizona! The Southern Arizona Green Chamber of Commerce, a non-profit organization comprised of business organizations, students, and other individuals who support green practices in the community, will air its “Green Business Radio” show Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. on KJLL 1330AM. Andrew Greeley, vice president of the Southern Arizona Green Chamber of Commerce, created this radio show for individuals to call in about green business practices, services, and products, such as how a business may harvest rain water, use solar power, or illuminate its buildings with sustainable lighting. Greeley said each show will feature guest business leaders, government officials, and experts from the University of Arizona to speak about specific topics and answer questions from the audience. Greeley hopes this radio show will boost sustainable business practices
Tune in this Saturday and check out the show! If you miss it, you can download them from the chamber’s website, www.sagcc.org.
