Savings will power 300 Vermont homes
Mack has recently installed new lighting technology in each of its three Vermont manufacturing facilities that is projected to save an estimated 1,747,000 kWh annually. According to CVPS, the largest electric company in Vermont, that savings will provide nearly 300 Vermont homes with electricity each year.
The project encompassed over 600,000 sq. ft. of manufacturing and warehouse space in three plants that were built over the span of a century. And while the facilities had been expanded and renovated over the years, light levels needed to be standardized and energy and maintenance costs reduced.
Goals for the project were to:
• Improve the level and quality of light
• Save energy
The Solution
Following an extensive lighting audit, Mack installed over 2,100 High Intensity Fluorescent (HIF) systems, improving light levels anywhere from 20-65 percent. In the Headquarters warehouse area, where occupancy sensors turn lights on only when needed, light levels were actually improved by 175 percent.
In addition to improved light levels, the new technology provides:
• Improved color rendition
• Consistent light distribution
• Decreased lumen depreciation/variability
• 100% greater lamp life
• Lower operating temperatures, requiring less cooling/ventilation during the summer months
• Environmental benefits, as the new lamps contain minute amounts of lead and mercury compared to the former metal halide fixtures.
“I’m out on the manufacturing floor for most of each day,” says Bonnie Simon, Headquarters manufacturing manager. “I can’t help but notice that my eyes are much less fatigued by the end of the day. The glare is gone, leaving us with even lighting everywhere.”
The total cost of the project was nearly $450,000. Due to the energy and maintenance savings, combined with technical assistance and a financial incentive from Efficiency Vermont, the nation’s first statewide provider of energy efficiency services, Mack expects to recoup its investment in less than two years.
As a result of the lighting upgrade, Mack won the 2009 Progressive Manufacturing 100 Award from Managing Automation Media.
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