Marriott Completes Parking Garage Lighting Retrofit

LED lighting played a major role in the recent energyefficient lighting retrofit at Marriott hotel headquarters location in Bethesda, Maryland. They retrofitted not only their corporate offices but also two million square feet of parking and garage space. Marriott said security for employees and guests and energy savings were top priorities when considering new lighting to cover the nearly 45 acres of parking and garage space.

 LED lighting typically provides energy savings between 35-70% and their long life expectancy reduces maintenance costs. Marriott estimated their annual savings for the lighting project would be $104,000 per year with an additional maintenance savings of $210,000 over the next 10 years.  As if these savings were not significant enough, the hotel chain also received more than $130,000 in utility rebates and EPACT savings. The cost for the lighting replacement will be paid for in less than two years.  Energy rebates are very important factors in helping companies reduce a substantial portion of the upfront costs of lighting upgrades or retrofits.

Marriott chose high-efficiency LED lighting to replace traditional 400- to 1,000-watt high-intensity discharge lighting for theheadquarters parking garage spaces. This choice also was consistent with their corporate commitment to sustainability.  Marriott has 13 hotels across all of their brands that are Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design or LEED-certified by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), including the headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland.  “We preferred the exceptional output and uniformity of GE ‘s LED lighting,” says Jim Young, vice president, corporate facilities for Marriott International, Inc.  “GE performed a comprehensive lighting audit of our existing system, provided photometric analysis with 3D renderings of the new system, and forecasted our energy and maintenance savings. GE excelled as both a trusted strategic consultant and solutions provider.”

For more information on parking garage lighting retrofits and technical information on LED linear lamps please visit the RedBird LED website.

LED Linear Light Retrofit The Right Answer for T12 Deadline

The July 15^th deadline for the end of T12 lamp manufacturing is less than 30 days away. The DOE regulations will eliminate future production of most T12 lamps after July 2012. This follows the previous July 2010 regulation that virtually eliminated T12 fluorescent magneticballasts from the lighting market. They have targeted the T12 ballasts and lamps to remove this less efficient lighting technology from the market.

Many companies have already replaced their T12 fluorescent lamps with more energy efficient LED Linear Replacement lamps and have reduced their lighting energy usage by more than 50%. In addition to reducing their energy costs, companies were concerned about the future supply and projected future price increases for existing stock of T12 lamps.

There has never been a better time to upgrade your lighting system to reduce energy and maintenance costs. Cardinal™ Linear Replacement Lamps are high quality replacements for standard fluorescent tubes (T8 and T12) and provide electrical savings of 35% to 50%.  Installation is easy, these linear lights use the same terminal connections as fluorescent tubes, and a universal voltage power supply inside the light which eliminates the need for  a fluorescent ballast.  A variety of color temperatures are available, making this product ideal for thousands of lighting applications. For technical specifications and testing data please click here.

Your energy efficient lighting upgrade project may qualify for low interest loans and significant rebates from utility and state energy savings resources. The Cardinal™ Linear Replacement Lamps recently were certified by the DesignLights Consortium. Culminating several years of development and testing, the Cardinal LED tube light has become the only LED tube light in the world to receive DLC certification under the strict specification published in August of 2011. For more information on the DesignLights Consortium please visit www.dlc.org.