Lighting Costs US Businesses $400 Billion a Year
A new company, Northeast Illuminating is now the official distributor for the Luxadd, T-5 retrofit kit for fluorescent lighting. The Luxadd, T-5 retrofit kit saves up to 73% on lighting energy and reduces a company’s carbon footprint up to 60% with just one simple “SNAP” – like changing a light bulb.
According to a study commissioned by the Department of Energy in 2002, lighting consumed about 22% of the total electricity generated in the U.S. That same study revealed that lighting constituted 30.3% of total building electricity use. Commercial buildings were found to have the largest share of lighting energy use (51%). Fluorescent and incandescent are the two largest commercial lighting energy users, account for 56% and 32% of annual energy usage.
The following percentage of electricity used simply to light different types of buildings includes: Retail and Service: 59%; Education: 56%; Office:44% ; HealthCare: 44%; Food Service: 30%.
In February, President Obama announced the Better Buildings Challenge to make commercial buildings nationwide 20% more energy efficient by the end of this decade and to encourage private sector investments in energy efficiency. Energy Secretary Chu announced the first 14 “Better Buildings Challenge” Partners during the Clinton Global Initiative America Conference in Chicago in June.
The “Better Buildings Challenge” states that in 2010, commercial and residential buildings used about 40% of the energy in the U.S. economy at a price tag of over $400 billion. Through improvements – including energy efficient lighting, better information and access to financing buildings should be made more energy efficient while creating jobs and supporting the economy.
Paul Paris, VP of Sales at Northeast Illuminating, noted: “What’s most appealing about the Luxadd product line is it gives us a solution to conduct a low cost, deeper lighting retrofit. In the past, the only way to get fromT8 to T5 was a complete fixture replacement. The Luxadd product bridges the gap and brings us to the best T5 technology saving buildings up to an additional30% on energy savings. We’re excited to introduce these products to thousands of rate payers in New England.”
Northeast Illuminating is a lighting solution provider based in Southeastern Connecticut and is comprised of experts specializing in Innovative Renewable Energy Solutions. The company serves all the New England states.
