Pepsi, Sysco, Wal-Mart Tackle Lighting Retrofits

July 20, 2009

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Large companies are seeking big savings from the low-hanging fruit of lighting retrofits. This year, Wal-Mart is adding daylight harvesting systems to 500 stores, reports the New York Times.

The systems include dimmable fluorescent lamps, electronic ballasts, and use of one skylight for every 1,000 square feet of retail space. Wal-Mart, which has already outfitted more than 2,000 locations with some form of daylight harvesting, expects the new changes to reduce lighting costs 15-20 percent, compared to the old magnetic-ballast lighting systems. At least 95 percent of new stores are built to the daylight harvesting standard, The Times reports.

Not just retailers are looking at lighting retrofits.

PepsiAmericas and Sysco Foods are adopting intelligent occupancy sensor technology. Using sensor technology from Orion Energy Systems Inc., the firms will be able to collect data on workplace occupancy and use, so as to determine usage patterns during a typical 24-hour period, according to a press release.

The sensors can adapt the lighting schedule and automatically adjust the settings, fixture by fixture, to stay on longer or turn off sooner to save energy and wear and tear. During a test, the operating cost for one fixture was reduced from $285 a year for a high-intensity discharge fixture to $44 per compact modular fixture, when combined with the occupancy sensors.

At Sysco Foods’ facility in Walnut, Calif., more than 1,000 Orion Compact Modular fixtures were enabled with sensor technology, helping the facility reduce energy waste an estimated 1.3 million kilowatt-hours annually.

For PepsiAmericas, which installed intelligent occupancy sensors on 155 Orion Compact Modular fixtures at a production and warehouse facility in Reserve, La., an estimated 545,000 kilowatt-hours will be saved.

The improvements at the Sysco and Pepsi facilities are estimated to displace a combined 19,706 tons of carbon dioxide emissions over the life of the sensor technology, while reducing sulfur dioxide emissions 80 tons and nitrogen oxides by almost 30 tons, according to the press release.

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