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Big lighting upgrade holds many benefits for Alameda County
Long used to represent a bright idea, the light bulb may soon replace the dollar sign as the symbol of cost savings in Alameda County, Calif. The California Energy Commission recently approved the county's loan request to upgrade lighting systems at 50 county facilities. The $1.7 million retrofit project should save Alameda County $362,860 annually, reduce electricity consumption by 2,879,115 kilowatt-hours per year and prevent the release of approximately 1,670 metric tons of carbon dioxide. As a bonus, workers will benefit from improved lighting and significantly reduced mercury in their facilities, while long-life fixtures and standardized lamps will simplify maintenance and cut down waste. Clean, efficient, standard lightingThe project focuses primarily on fluorescent lighting, said Energy Program Manager Matt Muniz. High color-rendering index (CRI) T-8 lamps, with a color temperature of 5000 degrees-Kelvin and a life of 30,000 hours, will replace T-12 and older T-8 fluorescent lamps, with color rating of either 3500 degrees Kelvin or 4100 degrees Kelvin and 20,000 hours. Efficient T-8 lamps and third-generation electronic ballasts will also replace high-pressure sodium fixtures and high-wattage metal halide lamps. Other changes include installing LED exit signs in place of incandescent and fluorescent signs and replacing all incandescent bulbs with CFLs. "In all, some 25,000 fixtures are involved," said Muniz. "Because the bidding process takes so much time, we wanted one project to cover as many lighting systems as possible." The 5,000 degrees-Kelvin lamps allow fixtures with four or three lamps to be de-lamped to two lamps, now the standard lamp throughout county facilities. The high-CRI lamps use fewer watts to light a space and though the lumen output is less, the human eye perceives more light at the desktop. Consistency of the same-color lamps also improves the lighting quality, Muniz explained. "In some areas, we had warm lights right next to cool ones, which is really hard on the eyes, not to mention ugly." Standardized long-life lamps and ballasts make lighting systems easier to maintain, too, added Muniz. Lamps won't have to be replaced as often, and the equipment will be the same from building to building. Another reason Alameda County is upgrading lighting, in addition to using less electricity, is that these new fluorescent lamps contain as much as 80 percent less mercury than older models. A few years ago, the county's sustainability program received an Environmental Protection Agency grant to reduce mercury levels in county buildings. Replacing older lamps and removing all mercury vapor lamps will advance that effort. Payback achieved over total facilitiesThe CEC loan will fund 100 percent of the lighting project, with the county expecting to receive $250,000 through utility rebates. CEC's Energy Efficiency Financing program offers state schools, hospitals and local governments loans up to $3 million, with rates as low as 3.95 percent, for energy saving projects. After rebates, the loan has a payback of four years, fitting within the terms requiring projects to have a five-year payback. Determining that the lighting project would meet the payback period was a lengthy process, ironically, because of past efficiency upgrades. "Back in the early 1990s, the county retrofitted most of its lighting systems with first-generation T-8 technology," recalled Muniz. "We had to do energy audits on all of our buildings to make sure there would be enough savings to qualify." Energy Watch, a partnership between local governments and Pacific Gas and Electric, performed the audits over a one-year period. The third-party program works with cities, counties and other California agencies to lower energy bills. PG&E provides service to all the county buildings included in the project scope. The only county facility that receives electricity from Western customer Alameda Power and Telecom was not part of the project. "The electricity rates are still too low to get a good payback," observed Muniz. The audit indicated a broad range of paybacks for the proposed efficiency measures, from a few months to several years. "If a building has already been de-lamped, or we are only replacing two T-8 lamps with more efficient ones, the savings may only be 13 watts per fixture," explained Muniz. "Where we can replace four lamps with two and a white reflector or three lamps with two and no reflector, we get the much greater savings." By aggregating 50 facilities into one project, Alameda County was able to reach an average payback period that qualified for the CEC loan. The approach also fit in with the goal of simplifying the bidding process. Upgrading the last upgradeSavings from the total project were enough to also pay for new lens retrofit kits for many of the fixtures. "Back in the 90's many of our facilities installed three-lamp fixtures with 18 cell parabolic lenses" states Muniz. These types of fixtures were very popular because it was shown there were more lumens per fixture compared to traditional fixtures with prismatic lenses. Unfortunately, they also produced more glare on computer screens, since the light was not diffused by the lens. "We found a kit that replaces the parabolic lenses with a recessed direct/indirect perforated baffle and curved reflector that produces a softer and balanced illumination. We tested the kits in a couple offices, and the results were very positive. People kept calling me and asking when they were going to their fixtures retrofitted," laughs Muniz. "All I could tell them was to be patient, they're coming soon." The retrofit project started in March 2008 and is expected to be completed by the middle of next year. Muniz is happy to say that county staff who had their fixtures retrofitted first are very positive about the results. "When you improve the lighting in someone's office, and they go out of their way to thank you, then you've done good job." Popular cost-cutting strategyLighting retrofits are often referred to as the "low-hanging fruit" of energy-efficiency projects. Upgrading lighting systems can yield savings as high as 40 percent of current costs, and projects fit easily into routine building maintenance, which explains why municipalities are embracing efficient lighting technology. Contra Costa County used a $180,000 CEC loan to retrofit eight county buildings last year to save about 297,092 kWh, or $41,593 in avoided energy costs, annually. A $900,000 CEC loan paid for new LED street and traffic lights for the city of Alhambra, last summer. The project is expected to save the city around $90,000 annually. Whether changing out a few lamps and ballasts or redesigning an entire system, lighting retrofits are good for the bottom line, agency budgets and taxpayers. Municipalities—or any business—can start improving lighting efficiency with these tips from the Flex Your Power best practices guide:
Of course, grants, low-interest loans and rebates make any energy-efficiency project more attractive. Check with your power provider, state energy office or the Database for State Renewables and Efficiency to see what is available in your area. |
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