CUSTOMER
Schuylkill Haven, Pennsylvania is home to one of Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation’s distribution warehouses. The company knew they could save money by conserving their electric consumption but were not sure how to achieve that goal. That is where Atlantic Energy Concepts, the Reading, Pennsylvania-based lighting services company was able to assist Van Heusen in achieving their objective.
CHALLENGES
Most of their facility still had original T-12 light fixtures that were installed in the 1970’s. These fixtures were not only inefficient in terms of their energy consumption, but the 8 foot lamps utilized were costly and difficult to handle. In a corporate decision to reduce overhead cost the maintenance staff had been instructed to remove every other lamp to save money. In employing this method to save energy the company sacrificed light levels for the employees work environment. The challenge was to show a positive cash flow after the lighting retrofit taking into consideration that all the fixtures would now be illuminated.
SOLUTION
Van Heusen wanted to implement energy-saving measures in three phases to meet budgetary guidelines.
Atlantic Energy Concepts performed an energy audit of the entire warehouse facility so it could determine which areas would benefit the most from a lighting retrofit.
One-third of the warehouse wasdeemed the best fit for Phase 1. This area had the highest traffic from employees that were pulling inventory to be shipped to their retail stores. The area would be retrofit with energy-efficient lighting that would not sacrifice the quantity or quality of light. Atlantic Energy Concepts will often reference the lighting guidelines recommended by the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA), a professional and technical organization that sets standards in the lighting industry.
The warehouse consisted of T-12, 8-foot light fixtures which Atlantic Energy Concepts retrofitted with an 8-foot light fixture that uses four-foot T-8 lamps. The T-8 lamps are more energy efficient, have a longer life expectancy and are better at color rendering than the existing T-12 lamps. Even with more lamps lit than before the lighting retrofit Van Heusen will still benefit from an energy savings because of the new lamp technology and energy- efficient electronic ballast system. The other benefit of the lighting retrofit is the reduced heat output which helps to maintain a comfortable working environment in the summer months. The lighting retrofit was installed during evening hours so it would not interrupt the employees productivity during their operating hours.
Old lamps, ballasts and PCB ballasts were sent to an EPA licensed recycling center where their components are separated for reuse and recycling. PCB ballasts were destroyed to prevent any future liabilities for Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation.