Recently in Workplace design Category

Cree, Inc. has been awarded ENERGY STAR ^® qualifications for its LED downlights. The product line, including the LR6, LR5 and LR4 downlights, has demonstrated LED lifetime and fixture efficacy that qualifies for the stringent commercial rating, as well as the residential rating.

ENERGY STAR is a joint program of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that helps consumers and organizations save money and protect the environment by promoting energy-efficient products. Products earning the commercial ENERGY STAR qualification must meet extended lifetime criteria, which is 40 percent longer than residential standards.

"Being rated for both commercial and residential applications is especially significant since more than three-quarters of the LED lighting we are deploying today is in commercial installations," said Neal Hunter, president, Cree LED Lighting. "Cree also provides the highest color rendering of any ENERGY STAR-qualified LED downlight. In stark contrast to compact fluorescent devices that contain toxic mercury, Cree's non-toxic LED fixtures deliver better efficiency and render colors such that the user doesn't have to compromise their lighting experience."

The Cree LR6 recessed downlight is available and qualified in two color temperatures (2700K and 3500K), and boasts efficiency of more than 54 lumens per watt with lumen output of 650 lumens--higher than any other qualified recessed downlight. The LR6 was the first recessed downlight to receive the ENERGY STAR commercial qualification.

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More than 4,200 LR24 recessed LED luminaires are planned for installation in Wedge 5 of the Pentagon as part of a major renovation.

  The Cree LR24 luminaires have undergone extensive government testing and business-case analysis, including a preliminary Pentagon installation to meter the fixtures and compare the results to the alternative fluorescent technology.

This independent analysis demonstrated a 22% reduction in energy usage and improved light quality.

• The business-case analysis yielded a payback of less than four years.
• The payback analysis considered energy savings, lifetime maintenance savings, savings from reduced load on the HVAC system, and elimination of hazardous waste disposal fees for mercury-laden fluorescent bulbs.
• Extensive modeling was also performed to determine optimal lighting design--analyzing the light distribution and spacing to ensure superior lighting and energy efficiency.
• The Wedge 5 installation is estimated to save 140 tons of CO2 emissions per year.

"The U.S. federal government is taking a leadership role in energy efficiency for federal buildings both through existing mandates, as well as President-elect Obama's American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan, which calls for the renovation of public buildings to make them more energy efficient," said Chuck Swoboda, Cree chairman and chief executive officer. "Installations of highly efficient, low-maintenance LED lighting, like these in the Pentagon and in the U.S. Federal Reserve, demonstrate that the future of energy-efficient lighting is here today."

The LED units being used for the Pentagon renovation are being purchased from Cree by the Department of Defense's (DoD) Title III program as a part of its ongoing development program with Cree, and provided to the Washington Headquarters Services (WHS), which oversees the Pentagon renovation program.

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Have you thought of applying for projects that include 24/7 applications of LED lights in local public housing facilities?  Follow the money... here are some funding sources:

Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG)

ARRA provided $3.2 billion for this Department of Energy (DOE) program, $2.8 billion to be distributed by formula, with the remaining $400 million to be awarded competitively.  EECBG provides grants to states and local governments for improvements in energy efficiency and to reduce energy use and fossil fuel emissions.  EECBG is a new program, receiving money for the first time due to ARRA, although it was authorized in 2007.  The block grant is administered by DOE's Office of Weatherization and Intergovernmental Programs in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

Potential housing-related uses of EECBG include: grants to nonprofits to perform energy efficiency retrofits; financial incentives for energy efficiency improvements; energy efficiency for buildings; and, residential energy audits.  In addition there are many other eligible uses ranging from energy efficient traffic signals to carbon capture and sequestration from power plants. 

Applications from sates and local governments are due June 25.

EECBG webpage, http://www.eecbg.energy.gov

EECBG Financial Assistance Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA),
http://www.eecbg.energy.gov/downloads/DE_FOA_0000013_Amendment_000003.pdf

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Experts estimate that municipalities, businesses and consumers could save up to 189 terawatt hours of energy by switching from conventional HID lights to solid-state LED fixtures, the equivalent of taking 16 million households off of the grid and $20 billion in electricity savings.

J. Dee Dennis Jr., CEO and President of Visible Light Solar Technologies says, "For 150 years it was all about pushing as many lumens out onto the ground as possible without a thought to how much heat was generated or power was used. That's over. Now, our solar/LED solutions mean we can light right, not just light big." Dennis also asserts, "By reinventing lighting and replacing all the old HID fixtures in every commercial and industrial application in the US, we can reduce our customers' power consumption by billions of kilowatt hours, taking hundreds of coal powered plants off the drawing board."

Visible Light Solar announced it has installed or is installing Vector retrofit lighting applications at 12 sites, including the Bosque School, DKD Electric, and Osuna Business Park.

Vector products let businesses significantly reduce their kilowatt consumption without having to replace their existing infrastructure of light poles, heads, casements and wiring. Visible Light Solar claims to be the first commercial and industrial lighting company to integrate LED lighting devices with solar power technology in exterior and interior retrofit lighting fixtures.

According to a statement by the company, their solar/LED lighting applications operate up to 85% more efficiently than their HID counterparts because of the integration of energy efficient LED components with solar power technologies. Linking these two technologies is Visible Light Solar's Self Powered Device Interface (SPDI), a patent-pending intelligent power management infrastructure that combines custom hardware and software to control voltage fluctuations, seamlessly switch between solar battery and grid power, and provide the ability to customize each fixture's illumination levels.

In addition to dramatically lowering energy consumption, Visible Light Solar's solutions reduce maintenance costs; LED's require far fewer changes than HID bulbs because they can last up to 100,000 hours and are resistant to thermal and vibrational shocks.

First Product Line: Vector Lighting Retrofit

Visible Light Solar's inaugural product family, Vector Lighting, addresses the need by businesses to rapidly retrofit energy-inefficient, maintenance-intensive, metal halide and mercury vapor lighting fixtures while leveraging existing light poles, heads, casing and wiring. Customers can upgrade their existing lighting applications to hybrid solar/LED or LED-only retrofit solutions with no waste and minimal incremental cost while maintaining 100% reliability by backup grid connections. Businesses can choose from an extensive line of Vector retrofit applications, including:

Street Light Heads Parking Lot Heads High Bay & Low Bay Fixtures Wall Packs Parking Garage Fixtures Bollards

Self Power Device Interface (SPDI) 

Visible Light Solar's SPDI software and hardware infrastructure extends the light quality and reliability of LED lighting technology, provides voltage balancing, and allows for fixture-by-fixture programmability. SPDI gives facility managers the ability to program illumination levels for each fixture based on clock time, motion detection, ambient light levels, temperature and solar storage availability thereby increasing businesses' ability to provide enhanced security for their customers and raise and lower illumination levels as needed in order to reap energy savings.

For Visible Light Solar's solar/LED applications, SPDI provides the intelligent interface between the solar battery, grid power and the lighting application, ensuring the fixture's optimal use of solar power while maintaining 100% reliability through its grid connection. If the solar gain on a particular day has not sufficiently charged the battery, or if the battery charge becomes low, then SPDI will automatically manage the switch from solar to grid power to ensure adequate lighting levels are maintained. Finally, SPDI manages the voltage and current driving the LED devices, controlling power spikes and maintaining LED longevity.

Visible Light Solar's Certified Installation Partner Program will provide nationwide installation and maintenance of the company's products.

Outdated mercury containing HID bulbs and PCB-laden ballasts will be responsibly recycled by National Metals as part of Visible Light Solar's corporate commitment to environmental stewardship.

Based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Visible Light Solar Technologies (www.visiblelightsolar.com) is an intelligent solar and LED lighting technology company. The company is headed by J. Dee Dennis Jr., the former founder and CEO of DKD Electric, and staffed by an experience team of solar, embedded software and LED lighting technology engineers. Visible Light Solar is a member of the Illuminating Engineering Society, US Green Building Council and the International Dark-Sky Association. The company is backed by the venture accelerator firm, Noribachi (www.noribachi.com).

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White Board Lighting

The research project on Retrofit Integrated Classroom Lighting System (R-ICLS) by Lighting California's Future is dedicated to developing retrofit lighting solutions for classrooms to ensure that the luminaires, sensors, and controls work together to provide proper lighting for General and A/V requirements together with lighting for the white board.

Retrofit Lighting for Schools

R-ICLS will help develop and demonstrate new technologies that will give schools a "good", "better", "best" way to combine state-of-the-art luminaires, lamps, ballasts, sensors, and controls into cost-effective, retrofit system solutions.

The goal is development of an integrated system that meets CHPS and LEED standards for classroom lighting
• General & AV Modes
• Whiteboard illumination
• Teacher Controls
• Integrated occupancy and daylight sensors.

Project Goals

• Deliver energy savings of 20% compared to California's Title 24 (Energy Law)
  
• Develop “Good”, “Better” and “Best” solutions to meet different payback requirements.

     Good: De-lamp luminaires where possible. Install dimming ballasts and Super T8 (3100 lumen lamps). New optical systems will be evaluated. Provide wall mounted and remote controls.
     Better: Add a whiteboard luminaire to the “good” definition. Provide wall mounted and remote controls.
     Best: Replace luminaires with new high performance 2x4 luminaire and add a whiteboard luminaire. Provide wall mounted and remote controls.
 

Finelite and the CLTC are key project members.

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For additional information on the benefits of converting various lighting applications to LED lighting in the work environment and to learn more about LED Workplace, visit www.ledworkplace.org.

Cree is using its headquarters facilities as a testbed for LED implementation. 

They are converting all lighting at its Durham headquarters and manufacturing facility to LED lighting and released the results of the first phase of the conversion. The parking lots, entryways, lobby and conference rooms at Cree's headquarters building are now 100-percent lit by energy-efficient, environmentally friendly XLamp(R) LEDs.

Cree's LED Workplace(TM) conversion validates the energy savings, quality of light and reality that LED lighting is now a viable option for business and residential consumers.

In a study of the energy usage before and after the lighting conversion, Cree confirmed the energy savings of the newly installed LED lights.

The findings indicate that in total the new LED lights use 48% less energy than the incandescent, fluorescent and high-pressure sodium lights they replaced.

The combination of the energy savings, reduced maintenance and disposal costs and the environmental savings demonstrate that LED lighting is now a real alternative to traditional lighting solutions.

Duke Energy Collaboration

Cree's local utility, Duke Energy, is collaborating with Cree to explore the benefits of LED lighting. "Our customers are always interested in understanding how to save money through energy efficiency, so we make it our business to support innovative technologies such as LEDs," said Ted Schultz, Duke's vice president of energy efficiency.

"We expect our energy efficiency plans to be approved next year (2008) and are committed to having a complete line of lighting solutions available for customers," said Schultz. "At that point, we expect to have programs developed that will take advantage of LED technology."

"Conventional wisdom is that LED lighting is years away from widespread adoption. The truth, however, is that the performance of Cree's LED technology enables real LED lighting solutions today," said Chuck Swoboda, Cree chairman and CEO. "The conversion of Cree's site demonstrates that the LED Lighting Revolution is well underway and will illustrate the benefits in energy savings, maintenance costs and environmental impacts."

Cree also announced that it has launched a new website to share the results and implementation details of the LED Workplace lighting conversion with other organizations.
 
...will include lighting vendor information and the light, energy and maintenance metrics that form the basis for LED lighting's cost savings. This site will also feature other LED Workplace installations.

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... includes lighting vendor information and the light, energy and maintenance metrics that form the basis for LED lighting's cost savings. This site also features other LED Workplace installations.

LED lighting is currently being used in workplace installations, including:

• Overhead lighting for conference rooms and office spaces
• Recessed lighting for hallways, bathrooms, breakrooms, and more
• Exterior lighting for parking lots, walkways and entrances

Learn how energy savings and workplace productivity mount up when LED lights were installed in the featured installations and discover the potential savings achieved by installing state-of-the-art LED lighting.

Learn how LED lighting is lowering lighting costs for a variety of workplaces:

Better Day BP

Cree, Inc.

Friendly's Restaurant

The Prairie School

Sentry Equipment Corporation

Visit the Q&A section to get answers to common questions like:

Question: I own a small business and am intrigued by the cost savings and environmental friendliness of LED lighting. How can I get started?

Answer: LED lighting offers economic value in many applications, including outdoor lighting and indoor down lights and accent lighting. Please contact the listed vendors on this website for information relevant to your specific applications.

Question: How do I go about converting my facility to LED lighting?

Answer: An LED lighting conversion usually includes three types of solutions: complete replacement of the existing fixtures, retrofit of existing fixtures with LED components, or simple plug-compatible bulb replacements. For each of these, the existing wiring and power can often be used. For Cree, as an industrial operation, our electrical is at 277VAC. We adapted the installation as needed to assure the LED fixtures matched our site electrical systems. The vendors listed on this website should be able to provide a solution to match your needs.

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