It has been a few months since we finished our job at Georgetown’s Washington Harbour and want to share our results!
The Problem – Energy costs and maintenance have property managers seeking new ways to reduce spending while still upholding environmental responsibility. Outdoor Lighting Perspectives offers proven, affordable and trusted solutions to improve a commercial building’s efficiency and enhance the business’ reputation as being environmentally friendly and wise.
Project Background – MRP, the property management group for the Washington Harbour, had several objectives. Energy savings and revitalized look and feel in the Harbour were primary. MRP wanted to provide a secure and safe environment with the lighting upgrade while enhancing the lighting quality, making the Harbour more inviting and vibrant.
Another major concern was the outdoor lighting maintenance. The property had over 300 fixtures with a critical need for consistent light levels and working bulbs.
The Challenge – The 192 23-watt CFL’s were placed 30 feet up. With a rated life of 10,000 hours, a reasonable service life of 18 months could be expected. So the Outdoor Lighting Perspectives approach was to improve light levels and maintain or reduce energy usage while increasing service life, as maintenance is a challenge at 30 feet. Additionally, the property has 108 decorative lamp posts with existing 175-watt metal halide bulbs, 13 globe lights with 100-watt metal halide bulbs and 14 recessed lights at 75-watts a piece.
Our Solution – We started with the CFL’s by replacing all 192 of them with a 23-watt, 60,000 hour self-ballasted induction bulb. This bulb will put out a greater amount of light and reduce maintenance dramatically over time. Outdoor Lighting Perspectives retrofitted the 108 lamp posts that were using 175-watt metal halide bulbs with a more efficient 100-watt induction bulb and ballast. In fact, the 175-watt bulbs were pulling 203-watts because of inefficient ballasts. The other 27 fixtures we replaced were using 75-watt and 100-watt bulbs. Those were replaced with 23-watt self-ballasted induction bulbs as well.
Saving Money & Saving the Environment –The energy savings for the MRP project amounts to $6,200 per year. Not only will the Harbour see a savings in their energy costs, but the retrofit will also save several thousands in material and maintenance costs every year.
Also of not, the Harbour’s carbon footprint was reduced by 26,912 pounds of CO2 annually, which is equivalent to removing 31 cars from the road and planting 1240 new trees.
By upgrading the commercial outdoor lighting system you now have to Induction and LED technologies, you can slash your energy bills by up to 50% or more.