LEDs Make Inroads into Commercial and Home Applications

July 16, 2009

Email this story Print this post Add your comments

As light-emitting diode (LED) lamp manufacturers and researchers continue to develop products with greater performance, businesses including retail stores are starting to realize the energy-savings benefits of the technology. In addition to new product enhancements, LED manufacturers are also offering recycling programs to keep them out of landfills.

One of the most prominent installations is the recently reopened Wal-Mart Superstore in Leavenworth, Kansas. The Wal-Mart store is touted as the first retail store to feature LED parking lot site lighting, based on specifications developed by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Retailer Energy Alliance.

The Superstore will serve as a test site to determine the viability of expanding LED parking lot lights at Wal-Mart stores nationwide.

The specifications for the LED lighting were sponsored by DOE and were developed by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and retailers nationwide to address energy-efficient lighting opportunities.

LED parking lot lighting is a new technology that has potentially enormous energy savings, reducing energy needs by more than 50 percent and maintenance costs by more than 80 percent, compared to traditional parking lot lights, according to DOE and its national laboratories.

For home use, Sharp Corp. is introducing nine new LED lamps for the Japanese market that deliver high energy efficiency, long service life and mercury-free lighting.

In addition, the model DL-L60AV LED lamps offer the same standard screw-in base and fit into the same sockets as traditional incandescent lamps, and feature an adjustable color function that enables users to change the color of the white light emitted from the lamp using an accessory remote control, which Sharp touts as an industry first for an LED lamp.

Users can select from seven different shades of white ranging from a pleasing warm white to a cooler daylight white to match the weather, the season, time of day, purpose, or other preferences, said Sharp. This model also features a built-in dimmer function to adjust brightness.

The LED lamps deliver a brightness of 560 lumens, and feature a service life of 40,000 hours.

In addition to delivering new products that offer energy efficiency and lower cost, LED lighting manufacturers are also making sure that their products are properly recycled by businesses and home owners.

As an example, Renaissance Lighting, based in Herndon, Va., has launched a LED fixture recycling program to keep its products out of landfills.

In addition to being 80 percent more energy-efficient than incandescent lamps and 30 percent more efficient than compact fluorescent lamps, Renaissance Lighting said its luminaires are nearly 100 percent recyclable from its reflector to mounting frame to LED light engine.

Users can return the luminaries to Renaissance for a binning process, then it will be shipped to Potomac Metals Inc., a privately held independent scrap metal recycling company based in Sterling, Va., for recycling.

Email this story Print this post Add your comments

Advertisers

Make sustainability part of your strategy.

Get equipped at the SAP Sustainability Resource Center. >>

Unclear about the EPA's new GHG Rule?

Learn how it could affect your business. >>

EPA mandatory emissions reporting starts Jan 1st

CSA Standards can help your organization get ready for compliance. Find out how. >>

Product Environmental Compliance Best Practices

How to achieve compliance at a significantly lower cost. Download the full report. >>

Join the Discussion

Recent Daily News [ see all ]

11/20/2009
11/19/2009
11/18/2009

Charts [ see all ]

European Paper Industry Cuts CO2 Emissions by 42% since 1990

S. America Takes Most Urgent View of Copenhagen Talks

Nike Tops Annual Climate Action Scores

Oceans May Trap more Carbon than Forests

Jobs

View All Jobs >> Post a Job >>

Comments and Discussions

Trade Association on Trade Group on EPA Chemical Regs: ‘If Everything is a Priority, Then Nothing is a Priority’
"Seriously… that..."

Gary Markowitz on Supermarkets Tackle Emissions Reductions, Fuel Efficiency
"Supermarkets waste over 10 percent of their energy through improper..."

peter in ireland on Ontario May Follow California’s Lead on TV Energy Efficiency
"Governor Schwarzenegger is shooting himself in the foot! 1...."

Environmental Leader on S. America Takes Most Urgent View of Copenhagen Talks
"The survey respondents (the PDF report mentions 4,000 respondents in 38..."

Jake on UPS Trying New Hydraulic Hybrid Trucks
"A point of clarification: the Reuters press release referenced herein reports that 20 UPS will purchase..."

Custom Organic Shirts on S. America Takes Most Urgent View of Copenhagen Talks
"90% of North Americans believe it is urgent to get a global climate..."

peter dublin on California City’s Green Building Ordinance Applies to Commercial Buildings
"Why energy efficiebnt regulation on buildings –..."

Environmental Leader