LEDs for Parking Garage Lighting continued from page 10
ENERGY TOOL: THE RETROFIT SAVINGS ESTIMATOR IS A WEB-BASED ANALYSIS ENGINE THAT USES BASIC BUILDING DATA TO PERFORM CUSTOM ENERGY
SIMULATIONS. TRY IT AT NEWBUILDINGS.ORG.
systems that can help guide customers
quickly to empty spaces.
The structure of a parking garage also
affects lighting. If your garage is constructed of precast concrete double tees,
be sure that lights are installed properly
for effective distribution. This structure
can be identified in the field by its many
deep, upright tees in the ceiling.
Fixtures should not be mounted up in
the tee because they tend to over-illumi-nate one tee and under-illuminate others.
Instead, fixtures should be dropped
below or nearly below the tee. Garages
built of cast-in-place concrete typically
have flat ceilings that allow fixtures to
be mounted directly to them. For both
types, light-colored concrete improves
light distribution.
With any LED proposal, test the aesthetics. Arrange for your contractor to
install a series of at least four units so you
can test the lighting in between fixtures.
If you don’t like them, try others.
Also, insist on certification. Design
Lights Consortium (DLC) is the LED
standard for lighting. Utilities won’t give
rebates unless the fixture selected is DLC
listed. You can view the list of certified,
high-quality lamps at designlights.org.
LEDs can be very attractive on energy
savings, but insist on glare-free fixtures,
test them in place, and by all means don’t
delay. Even for garages using T8 fluorescents, great solutions are available to
reduce lamp wattage from 32 watts to 18
watts with or without leaving the existing ballast in place.
Eric Woodroof is the Chairman of the
Board for the Certified Carbon Reduction
Manager program and has been a board
member of the Certified Energy Manager
program since 1999. Jeff Pinyot is the
founder and president of ECO Lighting
Solutions and ECO Parking Lights; he can
be reached at
jspinyot@ecoparking-lights.com.
CHP Projects Announced for New York Schools, Hospitals
➙Combined heat and power technology is growing at a
rapid pace in New York, with
over 50 state-supported projects now
underway or planned to improve the
resiliency and energy efficiency of hos-
pitals, schools and other buildings.
The projects are expected to increase
the total number of CHP systems in the
state by around 10% when completed
and are projected to help cut total energy costs by 15-30%.
Also called cogeneration, CHP helps
boost building efficiency by capturing exhaust heat and generating power on-site,
a more efficient option than receiving
electricity from power lines due to the
estimated 6% loss from resistance.
While most of the systems use
natural gas, some use biogas produced
through digestion of waste water or
farm waste. When the projects have
been completed, the New York State
Energy Research and Development
Authority (N YSERDA) projects that
the CHP systems it supports will offset
over 200 M W of power, enough to
power more than 32,000 homes.
CHP USAGE IN NEW YORK is set to grow with Gov. Andrew Cuomo increasing the state’s commitment
to the cleaner power source.
Massachusetts took top honors
for the fifth year in a row in
2015’s State Energy Efficiency
Scorecard rankings, an annual study by
the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy.
State energy policies are assessed in six
categories – utility programs, transportation, building energy codes, combined
heat and power, state initiatives and appliance standards. High-performing states
emphasize policies that not only save
energy, but also benefit the environment
and promote economic growth.
California followed Massachusetts
closely in second place, while Vermont,
Oregon and Rhode Island rounded out
the top five. California, Maryland, the
District of Columbia, Texas and Illinois
were also recognized as 2015’s most
improved states.
➙
How Energy Efficient
Is Your State?