Lighting is an excellent way to be more sustainable. Sustainable lighting strategies can have the quickest payback periods.
Turning off or De-lamping
Do a walk-through of your facility. Are there areas where the lights are on, even though the windows provide sufficient lighting for the activity? Are there areas where the lighting is blindingly bright? Can you remove some of the light fixtures or some of the bulbs in the light fixtures? For example, in double fluorescent lamps, you can remove one fluorescent tube from the lamp. Can you turn off some of the lighting due to the social distancing requirements? The payback period is immediate. You start saving as soon as the lights are turned off.
Don’t forget to turn off the lights at night.
Spot/Task lighting
Are there only certain parts of a room that are being used? Can only that section be lit? Can we put a desk lamp in those areas, and turn off the overhead lights?
Switch to LED lighting
LED lights use 1/3 of the electricity and last 2.5 times as long before replacement is needed. They fit into the existing light fixtures and require very little effort to implement. Unlike traditional lighting, LED lighting quality does not deteriorate over time. It will also decrease cooling costs in the summer because LED bulbs don’t generate as much heat. LED lighting projects offer among the highest return on investment of any sustainability project – a pay back period of around 6 months. You can often find government or utility company grants to help offset the cost. However, most grants will require you to upgrade an entire room at one time, rather than replacing bulbs progressively as each bulb fails.
Motion Sensor lighting / Automatic switches
In areas where the light is left on even when there is no one in the room, consider getting occupancy sensors. These can help decrease the lighting cost of an area by as much as 90%. These are most often installed in restrooms. break rooms, storage areas, warehouses, and conference rooms. Also, if your facility does not run 24-hours a day, you should install automatic switches that turn off the lights in the evening and turn them on again in the morning when your employees are at work.
Daylight harvesting
When engaging in a new building project, look at designing buildings with strategically placed windows that allow for maximum daylight usage Studies show that natural lighting improves employee productivity and happiness.
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