Ford's latest lighting efficiency upgrade started in Connecticut when it requested a lighting audit of a 227,000-square-foot High Velocity Center.
In a subsequent report to Ford's facility management, New England Energy Management proposed replacing 650 existing HID lighting fixtures (400 watt and 1,000 watt metal halide and pulse-start metal halide lamps). The replacement: energy saving linear fluorescent lighting from GE Consumer & Industrial. Coupled with motion sensors that could reduce output (and energy use), savings as high as 50% are possible during periods of low activity.
"Following the audit, we knew that in this application, the right fluorescent lighting system could outperform the existing HID," says Scott Hinson, president, New England Energy Management, an energy service company.
Hinson's firm designed and submitted the efficiency project to Connecticut Light & Power's (CL&P) RFP Program on behalf of Ford. CL&P awarded a 75% incentive based on the high benefit-to-cost ratio score.
The energy savings of the HID-to-fluorescent retrofit at the Windsor Locks plant exceeded expectations, achieving a seven-month payback using CL&P's incentive rebate. Hinson says yearly energy savings tied to the Windsor Locks lighting retrofit will exceed $78,000 (651,283 kWh).
