LED Lighting Retrofit

Business Need

The new facilities manager of a large international gourmet food company had experience with energy savings projects. He recognized an opportunity to save his new company operational cost at its 94,000-square foot warehouse distribution center by upgrading the facility’s outdated HID and fluorescent lights to an environmentally-friendly energy efficient lighting solution. Requirements for the project included:

• Quick return on investment (ROI)
• Automate dimming and turning off lights during off hours
• Reduce maintenance cost
• Significantly reduce the company’s carbon footprint
• Use of light fixtures suitable for a food environment

Lighting is 30 to 40 percent of most commercial buildings’ energy consumption. Many utility companies offer financial rebates to commercial customers who invest in projects to reduce their peak demand electricity usage. Located in the Omaha Public Power District (OPPD), a rebate was available to offset the company’s capital expenditure and improve the project’s ROI. To qualify for the rebate, an independent OPPD-approved third party must perform an energy audit before and after project completion.

Solution

The facilities manager contracted Consolidated Electrical Distribution (CED) of Omaha, to redesign and upgrade the lighting. CED’s design encompassed replacing the existing HID and fluorescent fixtures with LED light fixtures. It also included a Daintree control system to provide the ability to have individual control of each of the fixtures, including providing set points for lighting levels, dimming of spaces when its function is not needed, as well as individual occupancy sensing control for each fixture.

To qualify for the OPPD rebate, CED of Omaha recommended the customer contract OPPD-approved Huffman Engineering to complete the required energy audits. Huffman Engineering and CED worked together to complete the project, which included the following phases of implementation:

1. Performed energy study and submitted to customer for review and approval.
2. Provided OPPD with the energy study submittal, project methodology, customer commitment, Custom Trade Ally Energy Study Proposal and Custom Rebate Program application.
3. Following OPPD approval of project, Fluke 435 sub-metering was installed on the existing lighting control panel to measure the average demand of the old light fixtures over a three-week period.
4. Lighting fixture retrofit and controls upgrade were installed.
5. The customer’s maintenance staff was trained on the newly installed system to ensure optimal energy savings and rebate value for the LED lighting retrofit project.
6. Following light fixture/controls retrofit, Fluke 435 sub-metering was installed on the new lighting control panel to measure the average demand of the new lighting system.
7. Submitted measurement and verification (M&V) report to OPPD. With expertise in OPPD’s process, Huffman Engineering continued follow up with OPPD until the customer’s rebate was issued.

Result

The LED lighting retrofit successfully completed the customer’s objectives and will provide a full return on investment (ROI) in just 3 years. The project reduced the maximum daily peak electricity demand by 73%, from 129.1 kW to 35.1 kW. The customer received a $49,600 utility company rebate and an $86,000 energy savings tax deduction. The project will save an estimated 92% in electricity usage, resulting in savings of $323,000 over five years. Additional benefits include reduced greenhouse gas emissions and a projected $40,000/year savings in maintenance costs.