Like many other Catholic not-for-profit organizations, Christian Brothers Services provides an office building to support its operations. Our building serves 185 employees in 42,000 square feet of office space. Like all private sector companies, we must comply with state and federal regulations that apply to the business side of our ministry.
In 2005, the United States government passed the Energy Policy Act to conserve the nation’s use of energy. This law addressed the energy efficiencies of internal electrical devices including lamps, fixtures, electrical equipment and appliances. Two years later, Congress passed the Energy Independence and Security Act which sets minimum efficiency requirements for incandescent and metal halide lighting.
We learned that the Energy Policy Act requires us to replace all of the fluorescent light bulbs and ballasts in our lighting fixtures. After taking an inventory of all lamps and ballasts, we found that we need to replace 958 ballasts and 1,475 lamps throughout our office building.
The strategy involves replacing T-12 light bulbs, with smaller and more efficient T-8 light bulbs. The amount of lumens is similar; T-8 bulbs will offer wattage savings of 20,784 watts over a year’s time. New ballasts are needed to accommodate the T-8 bulbs. The total replacement cost is about $20,000 with an additional $26,000 for installation, disposal and recycling of the old bulbs and ballasts. Ouch!
There is a green lining to this law, though. Despite the additional cost of replacing bulbs and ballasts, there are significant energy savings. More efficient lighting means less energy consumed and lower electric bills.
In terms of environmental impact, the new lighting will reduce energy consumption by 106,206 kW a year, and reduce CO2 global warming by 151,875 lbs., an equivalent of 20.7 acres of trees planted a year. Our vendors are General Electric and Graybar. GE provides an on-line calculator that we used to estimate energy savings and the reduced impact on the environment. You can learn more through the website, www.gelighting.com.
The bottom line is that “going light” will reduce our electric bills so that we can “see green” savings of about $10,000 a year. Our payback is slightly under 2 years with a 53% return on investment. Then, we should be saving money on energy every year afterward, saving our customers money, too. Should the run up in energy prices we saw in 2008 reoccur, it makes very good sense to consume less energy, even if just from a financial stewardship position.
When to install the lighting depends on a couple of factors for additional savings. Energy providers like Commonwealth Edison’s Smart Ideas for Your Business program offer a rebate when the funds are available. The best time to apply for this rebate is at the beginning of the energy provider’s fiscal year when rebate funding levels are refreshed. ComEd’s website at www.comed.com provides program rules and incentive levels for this program.
The State of Illinois offers an incentive program for purchasing upgraded supplies to comply with the Energy Policy Act. We estimate the rebate from the State of Illinois to be about $10,000 for our office building. More information is available at www.illinoisenergy.com. Check your own state’s website to see what incentives are available to you.
Another practical way that we are conserving energy is replacing incandescent bulbs and spotlights with fluorescent based bulbs. For example, a 90 watt incandescent bulb can be replaced with a lumen-equivalent fluorescent bulb that is rated for 26 watts. Same light output, less energy consumption. We replaced 59 incandescent bulbs that consume 5,310 watts of power with fluorescent bulbs that use only 1,534 watts, reducing energy consumption by 71%. Although final compliance with these energy laws is not due until 2016, the longer you wait, the more expensive it is to get started. Each year, you lose the cost and energy savings. We think it pays to get started now.
Links to more information:
U.S. Energy Policy Act
If you want to go straight to the source, read this legislation.
http://www.energy.gov/about/EPAct.htm
Commonwealth Edition’s Smart Ideas for Your Business Program
Learn how not only to control energy costs, but to cut them by 35%.
http://www.comed.com/businesssavings/
General Electric Energy Saving
What does a major lighting company have to say about saving energy?
http://www.gelighting.com
State of Illinois Energy Saving
Learn about the rebates and incentives for organizations in the State of Illinois.
http://www.illinoisenergy.com
U.S. Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency
Discover the rebates and incentives for green initiatives in your own state.
http://www.dsireusa.org/
