The First Facility Management Blog

GE Lighting has established an ESCO Energy Services Program to continue its work providing customers with a full-service approach to energy savings. Through alliances with selected energy services companies (ESCOs), this GE program aims to help customers explore energy strategies that take into account such factors as cost-of-light payback, return on investment (ROI), rebates, financing, and government incentives that can reduce investment costs.

“The ESCOs involved meet high customer service, integrity, and credibility standards,” says Lou Mane, ESCO sales development manager with GE Lighting, a unit of GE - Appliances & Lighting. “By working together, we‘re better able to develop comprehensive strategies for customers’ lighting and electrical controls, motors, drives and overall building management. These alliances enhance our ability to help customers develop all-encompassing plans for energy savings.”

The primary focus of this approach is to analyze, design, and implement solutions that work together to conserve energy for customers over the long term. Throughout the process, including planning and installation, GE’s specification team will work with customers and ESCOs to create customized plans that ensure optimal energy saving results and ease of transition.

Mane says the ESCO relationships enable GE to go beyond the circuit breaker, switch, and lamp. “We want to help customers meet and exceed their energy goals, specifically in commercial, property management, government, institutional, retail, healthcare, and industrial settings where energy savings can provide a strategic advantage.”

Facility managers can learn more by writing to: ESCOsolutions@ge.com

Lighting influences how wine tastes and how much consumers are willing to pay for it, the National Lighting Bureau reports, citing conclusions drawn from a series of three German experiments in which more than 500 people tasted white Riesling wines. The study report, “Ambient Lighting Modifies the Flavor of Wine,” was published in the December 2009 issue of Journal of Sensory Studies.

According to the Bureau, the only significant variable in the experiments was the ambient lighting in the spaces where study participants sat. Researchers used a series of fluorescent lamps that produced red, blue, green, or white light. People rated the wine’s quality higher, in general, when they drank it in a room whose ambient lighting was red or blue versus green or white. They also found the test wine much sweeter and fruitier when sampled in a room illuminated by red-tinted fluorescent lamps, and were willing to spend more for it.

The first experiment involved 75-male and 75-female visitors to the Allendorf winery in Oestrich-Winkel on the Rhine River. The 150-person sample tasted Allendorf Festival 2004, a dry Riesling from the Rheingau region, in a specially designed, windowless tasting room. The tasters sat facing a wall illuminated by the special fluorescent lighting system and sampled four 100mL pours served in opaque black, lidded glasses that obscured the wine from view. (Prior experiments have shown that the color of the beverage itself can affect assessments of its taste.) Participants scored each sample from 0 to 10 points for each of five qualities: fruitiness, spiciness, bitterness, sourness, and sweetness. The participants did not know if the four samples were the same or different, nor were they asked to differentiate between taste and aroma. On average, the participants liked the wine better when they drank it under the influence of red or blue light rather than green or white.

In the second experiment, 69 male and 66 female subjects – mostly students at the Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz – sampled eight 50mL pours; four each of two Allendorf wines (dry and semi-dry Rheingau Rieslings). Participants perceived a wine to be spicier when they tasted it under blue or green light rather than red or white. Interestingly, blue lighting made the wine taste bitter, but subjects nonetheless liked the wine more under those lighting conditions. About six of every 10 participants (58.5%) thought they tasted more than two wines. About two in ten (19.3%) said (correctly) that they had tasted two wines. The rest thought they had tasted one wine.

The third experiment involved 84 male and 146 female participants, each of whom tasted 100mL of a dry Rheingau Riesling served 50mL at a time in two lidded, black glasses labeled “1” and “2.” The researchers used three ambient colors – blue, red, and white – and randomly assigned each participant to one of the six possible sequences of two colors. For example, if assigned to the color sequence blue-red, the participant tasted the first glass of wine under blue lighting and the second under the red. Participants evaluated each wine based on its aroma and taste. They rated the wine much fruitier when they drank it under red light.

According to NLB Chair Howard P. Lewis (Lighting Alternatives, Inc.), the researchers intend to conduct additional experiments. “In the meantime,” he said, “it seems evident that lighting color – which includes the color of room surfaces – affects the taste of wine.” He concurs with the study’s lead researcher (Dr. Daniel Oberfeld-Twistel) that serious wine tastings should be conducted in neutral-color environments.

The IFMA Foundation has released Lighting Solutions, a practical guide for introducing and advancing sustainable practices that revolve around proper illumination in commercial buildings. The guide is the fourth in the Sustainability “How-to” Guide Series released the IFMA Foundation.

Available free of charge, Lighting Solutions gives an overview of several keys to lighting initiatives, including:

• Building a business case for sustainability through energy efficiency and indoor environmental quality;
• Procurement of lighting components and systems, including lamp type, ballast selection, and controls;
• Group re-lamping and the benefits of a wash and re-lamp program;
• Alternative means of illumination, including the use of natural light and daylight harvesting;
• De-lamping, maintaining light levels while decreasing energy use; and
• Case studies that offer real-world insight into effective approaches.

The new guide was written by Bill Conley, CFM, CFMJ, IFMA Fellow, LEED AP, currently the managing director of the LEED®/Sustainability Development Group for Pacific Building Care, with the help of a cross section of subject matter experts in lighting and facilities management. The guide provides a practical point of reference for facilities managers across multiple industry sectors.

“Lighting is a critical component of energy costs and is the largest contributor to a commercial property’s electricity bill,” said Eric Teicholz, executive editor of the Sustainability “How-to” Guide Series. “This guide shows organizations how they can significantly lower total energy costs while at the same time improving lighting quality.”

For a free PDF of the guide, click this link: Lighting Solutions

This year marks the 10th year that Philips Electronics has been the official Lighting Partner to the Times Square Ball that heralds in the new year in New York City. Over the past decade, Philips’ investment in solid state lighting has helped to marry the Ball’s combination of tradition with innovative technology.

The 2009 Times Square Ball

New this year was the conversion of the numerals (2-0-1-0) on the Times Square Ball to all LED technology. Previously, these were not LEDs; however the rest of the Ball has been lighted with LED technology since the 2007-2008 New Year’s event. Philips led the conversion of the Ball’s light source from incandescent and halogen bulbs to its LUXEON LED technology in 2007-2008 as well as its subsequent upgrade to more energy efficient LUXEON LEDs the following year.

Now, in 2009-2010, Philips completes the final step in its conversion of the entire Times Square Ball application to an LED platform. The 545 custom designed, scalloped LED flood bulbs—the Philips EnduraLED PAR 30 Longneck—that light the numerals use 9 watts each, compared to the 40 watts consumed by the incandescent and halogen bulbs previously used, representing a 78% energy savings.

Philips Lighting engineer Oscar Zheng assists a Landmark Signs technician in upgrading the Times Square Ball Numerals for the 2009-2010 New Year's Eve celebration.

“Following our landmark upgrade of the Times Square Ball to LED technology over the past two years, we are very excited to deliver yet another innovative LED solution that helps to elevate the impact and sustainability of the Times Square Ball through the use of our powerful new LED flood bulbs in the Numerals,” said Ed Crawford, CEO, Philips Lighting North America.

“Global icons like the Times Square Ball are not the only applications that can enjoy the benefits of LED technology. In addition to offering a wide range of professional LED solutions, we are delighted to offer a broad line of LED retrofit bulbs to consumers for the first time, enabling everyone to enhance their life with light through high performance, energy efficient and long life LED lighting.“

Requirements to “lighten up” energy use and costs through fenestration, parking lot lighting, and other proposed measures are being recommended for Standard 90.1. ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-2007, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, provides minimum requirements for the energy efficient design of buildings except low-rise residential buildings. Currently, 15 proposed addenda to the standard are open for public review.

“As the industry continues to call for buildings and systems that use less energy, the Standard 90.1 committee is striving to find ways to reduce energy uses and costs,” Mick Schwedler, chair of the Standard 90.1 committee, said. “The proposed changes not only reduce energy use but move the standard closer to the workplan goal of a 2010 standard with 30 percent energy cost savings compared to the 2004 standards.”

Among the proposed addenda out for public comment is addendum cd, which would require active exterior control rather than just require the control capability; add bi-level control for general all night applications (such as parking lots to reduce lighting when not needed); and add control for façade and landscaping lighting not needed after midnight.

Eric Richman, chair of the standard’s lighting subcommittee, noted that studies from the California Lighting Technology Center at the University of California at Davis found that control strategies reduce lighting energy use by significant amounts during night time hours. A study by Polytechnic State University showed that parking lot lighting operates in a low mode 68% of the time.

Additional information from a study by Navigant Consulting shows that parking lots account for 22 Twh out of a total 57 Twh used for outdoor lighting annually nationwide. While this estimate includes all lit parking areas, the potential for energy savings in parking areas that are directly associated with specific building projects are significant and should be supported by the standard.

A second public review of proposed addendum, bn, would reduce solar loads by orienting the fenestration in more appropriate directions. Changed in response to comments during the first public review, this approach gives flexibility to building design teams to work with siting and fenestration and orientation as well as fenestration area to comply with the requirement.

Proposed addendum bb updates building envelope requirements for opaque elements, such as walls and rooms, and fenestration (windows and skylights). A number of changes were made in response to public comments during the first public review.

The proposed addenda to ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1 are available for comment only during their public review period. To read the addenda or to comment, visit this link.

Incheon Metropolitan City, Korea, together with designboom recently held a competition (iida) open to international professionals, students, and design enthusiasts. The subject of iida was “Green Life,” which was broken down into the following concepts:

• 21st century design is the philosophy that suggests harmony of humanity and nature.
• 21st century design is the imagination that enables sustained urban life.
• 21st century design is actions that buffer radical changes in society.
• 21st century design is a beautiful link between business activities and consumer activities.
• 21st century design is a tool that expresses beautiful imagination of people.
• the philosophy of the 21st century design is the philosophy of iida.

In the end, 3709 designers from 96 different countries participated. Rochus Jacob was awarded the first prize for his Murakami Chair (along with his thermodynamic cooler), which incorporates nano-dynamo technology into the skids of the chair to run an OLED light—thereby powering an attached reading lamp with energy generated from its own rocking motion. (Note: as one of the competition requirements, the product could not currently be in production.)

Jacobs explains his thoughts behind the design process:

I was looking for opportunities to generate energy through activities we naturally do. The final result is a rocking chair that enables the user to experience production and consumption of electricity in a gentle and rewarding way. An abstract process becomes tangible and eventually cultivates natural awareness. Complexity is covered by simplicity. During daylight, the energy gets stored in a battery pack. The construction of the flat and bendable organic light emitting diodes allows new form factors such as using the traditional shape of a lamp but instead of having a light bulb the lampshade himself turns out to be the light source. To have a drastic reduction of consumption the big challenge will be to make consuming less feel like getting more.

The jury, composed of Julien de Smedt, JDS, architect, Karim Rashid, industrial designer, Jerszy Seymour, industrial designer, Martin Videgård Hansson + Bolle Tham, Tham & Videgård Hansson Architects, Birgit Lohmann, designboom, Sang-Soo Ahn, Hongik University visual communication design professor, Soon-Jong Lee, Seoul National University design major professor, Joo-Yun Kim, Hongik University industrial design professor, Chul-Bae Lee, LG eletronics vice president, and Heung-Soo Jeon, Incheon Metropolitan City design manager awarded designs and concepts that were deemed innovative in terms of their formal/technological aspects as well as their social relevance.

The competition was hosted by Incheon Metropolitan City and organized by Incheon Business Agency.
Sponsors of this competition are: Ministry of Knowledge Economy of Korea, Korea Institute of Design Promotion, LG electronics, designflux, Incheon Industrial Design Association, and Incheon Design Company Association.

With over 400 stores nationally, West Marine, a leading U.S. boating retailer, considers efficient distribution key to the success of its business. That’s why, when the metal halide lamps in its 476,000 square foot South Carolina distribution center depreciated below the light levels adequate to fulfill operational needs, facility management at the company, which is based in Watsonville, CA, decided it was time to bring in a new lighting technology.

What West Marine chose to install in the South Carolina distribution center was a fixture made with an optimized fluorescent lighting system that took advantage of a new reflective material called Miro. Optimized fixtures are far more efficient than fixtures made with traditional anodized aluminum reflectors. Miro, made by German manufacturer Alanod Aluminum, essentially maximizes every bit of light out of the fixture and can improve the energy savings by as much as 25%.

This West Marine distribution center was retrofitted with fluorescent lighting fixtures equipped with reflector technology.

This reflector technology that West Marine chose was designed and built inside fixtures manufactured by Westinghouse Lighting Solutions. What attracted West Marine to this type of lighting system was the expected energy savings. Pat Murphy, VP of Logistics for West Marine, was impressed at how quickly the system would pay for itself. “In difficult economic times like these, if a project has 12 to 18 months payback, like the Westinghouse lighting we installed, I put that in the A category,” he said.

According to Jay Goodman, managing director for Westinghouse Lighting Solutions, “By customizing the reflectors for West Marine’s specific application and by leveraging the specular properties of the Miro material, we created a  system that will save West Marine 1.5 million dollars in energy costs over the next 10 years.”

Choosing The System

As part of his evaluation, Murphy compared several other options, and determined the Westinghouse system met West Marine’s specifications best.  The new lighting system was part of an overall program of environmental improvements and reduced operating costs. “We haven’t done anything that didn’t cost something, but these improvements delivered a lot more in the long run,” Murphy said of the lighting system and other efficiencies.

T5’s lamps were installed in a two-lamp configuration. “When we looked at the application, the Miro reflectors made the most sense for us” said Murphy. And to further improve efficiency, West Marine installed motion sensors to reduce kilowatt hours in areas of limited work activity.  According to Murphy, the system “reduced the monthly bill by about half. It’s been consistent and worth a lot.”

Specialized optic design has become a popular method for lighting designers to improve the energy efficiency of their fixtures. Until Miro aluminum reflectors were introduced, anodized aluminum and white painted aluminum were the most common reflector material.

Specularity—a property of the Miro reflectors used in the West Marine project—is a material’s ability to direct light exactly where the lighting designer points it. Older reflectors defuse light, which wastes light on the walls and ceiling where it’s not needed. Especially for commercial and industrial facilities, lighting designers cam look for materials that are nearly 100% reflective and highly specular to bounce light more efficiently.

The sum of these improvements allowed West Marine to realize a payback on its lighting investment in about one year, which translated to an annual energy savings of more tahn $150,000.  ”It’s a very nice contribution at the bottom line of the company,” says Murphy. “Everybody loves it.”

With the high cost of energy, West Marine considers its new lighting system to be like money in the bank.  Investing in the new lighting system has yielded West Marine the equivalent of a 23% compounded annual rate of return, with the simultaneous enhancement in light levels.

Beyond the energy savings, the new reflector lighting system conserves materials as well. For instance, 4,000 fewer lamps were used in the Westinghouse system than in other systems Murphy reviewed. He explains that it doesn’t have to cost money to be ecologically sensible, and facilities can even save money. “In retrospect I’m tickled pink that we did the new lighting this way because it’s paying off even more than we thought.”

WattStopper, a manufacturer of energy efficient lighting controls, has launched a Web-based energy savings calculating tool that allows users to calculate the potential energy savings available with occupancy sensors. The Energy Calculator, which is free, is designed to help users identify lighting control strategies that best match energy savings goals for retrofit or new construction projects.

The Energy Calculator provides a list of pre-defined Lighting Control Measures (LCMs) that help users compare different control methods to identify how best to achieve additional maximum energy lighting savings. These LCMs include: pairing an occupancy sensor with an on/off wall switch; bi-level switching; bi-level switching with Auto-on 50%; or bi-level switching using Auto-on 50% with daylighting.

Energy savings percentages are based on third party published documents and research from the Department of Energy (DOE), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Lighting Research Center (LRC), the California Lighting Technology Center (CLTC), and other industry case studies. The company notes that future versions of this tool will include calculations for plug/receptacle load control, daylighting, and time-based controls.

The Energy Calculator offers two assessment levels—Quick Assessment and Full Assessment. The Quick Assessment allows users to enter a minimal amount of information and calculate potential energy savings for a single room in a lighting system project with lighting controls. The Full Assessment presents anticipated savings using lighting controls and updated lighting, anticipated energy usage, and return on investment (ROI) for an entire building project. Users can perform this assessment for multiple projects and retain data for future reference.

When faced with disposing more than 1,000 fluorescent light bulbs a year properly, the Lake Washington School District (LWSD) in Redmond, WA has a new tool that helps to protect the environment while also reducing costs. Earlier this summer, the district purchased the “Bulb Eater,” a tool from Air Cycle Corporation to dispose of burned out fluorescent tubes. Within several seconds, fluorescent tube lights are sucked into the Bulb Eater’s 55-gallon drum and crushed, preventing mercury from escaping into the air while saving the school district the higher cost to send the bulb out for recycling.

(Photo courtesy of Lake Washington School District)

The Bulb Eater processes (crushes) the spent fluorescent lamps into small fragments while capturing the mercury vapor and dust particulate in the tube. The contaminated air goes through a three-stage filtering process that captures the mercury vapor but also neutralizes it by converting the vapor to mercuric sulfide, which is non-hazardous. The crushed lamps stay in the sealed drum: once a drum is full, it is returned to Air Cycle for final disposal.

According to the district, “the product not only helps LWSD to protect the air quality in our schools from the possibility of mercury release from a broken fluorescent bulb, it also helps save the district money.” Before the Bulb Eater, the district spent about $2,500 a year to recycle fluorescent bulbs, as required by King County. Now the district says it will pay between $400 and $800 annually to replace full drums. The cost of each drum replacement is $400 and each drum can hold up to 800 bulbs before replacement is needed. The district reported that the machine itself cost the district $3,500 so the product will pay for itself in less than three years.

Orion Energy Systems Inc. has developed intelligent occupancy sensor technology designed to save energy while enhancing lamp and ballast longevity. Able to be integrated with existing fixtures, InteLite® occupancy sensors collect data regarding the presence of people who routinely move through a space during a 24 hour period. The sensors have the ability to adapt the lighting schedule based on this intelligence and to adjust the settings of each fixture automatically to stay on longer or turn off sooner.

The InteLite occupancy sensor is a round, button-shaped device, seen here mounted on a receiver.

The sensor technology also features an adjustable field of view, allowing users to change the direction the sensor focuses, increasing its reliability to turn on when needed.

The InteLite® occupancy sensor technology is a new addition to Orion’s Phase II InteLite® family of products. When the sensors are used in conjunction with Orion’s InteLite® control system, facility personnel can control, monitor, and adjust the settings of each light fixture remotely. The system also includes technology that measures and verifies energy savings.

The red light on the sensor indicates it is on. Seen here integrated with Orion’s Compact Modular fixture.

In a project completed recently, the actual cost to operate the lighting system was reduced from $285 per high-intensity discharge fixture to $44 per fixture a year when the occupancy sensor was used with Orion’s Compact Modular™ lighting platform and InteLite® control system.

Orion is deploying these advanced occupancy sensors at facilities for PepsiAmericas and Sysco Foods as well as other commercial and industrial customers.