In business today, companies are looking for ever-new ways to save money and make their company more energy efficient.
Energy bills can be a massive outgoing for most companies, so it makes sense to find ways to reduce these. One way many companies are reducing their energy bills, is upgrading their current lighting to energy efficient LED lighting. An LED’s low power consumption and low maintenance make them the perfect choice for any company trying to find new ways to save money. Here are five big businesses that are utilising LED technology.
Marks and Spencer’s
Marks and Spencer’s have made a “Sustainable Learning Store” located on Ecclesall Road in Sheffield. The store is built to be sustainable and uses varied energy saving methods. The store uses 100% LED lighting; from the main store to the car park, even the back of the store uses LED lighting. The store saves approximately 20-30% on its light energy consumption compared to traditional store lighting. The LED light bulbs also save the store a considerable amount of money with their reduced maintenance costs, as the LED light bulbs should last the lifetime of the store. The increased durability means there is no need to purchase replacements or to pay for new bulbs to be installed. You can view the projects case study in full, here.
Cheesecake Factory
The USA restaurant chain was looking for ways to become more energy efficient. They started by changing the lighting in all of their restaurants to low wattage bulbs, saving them money in electricity due to the lower power consumption. But they are now trialing ultra efficient LED lighting in areas of the restaurants to aid a further reduction in their power consumption. LED light bulbs offer a superior quality of light and will typically last between 30,000 and 50,000 hours. This means that maintenance costs are also reduced when compared to a traditional energy saving (CFL) bulb that typically has a 6,000-15,000 hour lifespan.
Walmart
Walmart is a mega giant when it comes to superstores in the USA and worldwide. With so many large stores and electricity being their second biggest expenditure, it made sense for them to upgrade to LED lighting. They started by using LED freezer units in one store in Texas. They found they had a considerable saving on electricity due to the LED light bulbs low wattage and power consumption. Also the LED light bulbs produce very little heat, meaning the freezers didn’t have to work so hard to keep their consistent temperature, in turn saving even more electricity. They then extended their use of LED lighting to their car parks, again making the most of the LED light bulbs low power consumption and minimal maintenance. The bright light produced from the LED light bulbs helped keep the car parks feeling safer and more pleasant for customers using the facilities. Their next step now, is testing LED’s for use as overhead lighting to in their stores. Doing this would give them massive savings on their energy bills and help reduce their carbon emissions quite considerably as a company.
Starbucks
The international coffee chain Starbucks, is discovering the benefits of changing from incandescent and halogen lighting to low energy LED lighting. In the USA and Canada, Starbucks have implemented LED lighting into over 1000 stores. Each store is now using 7% less energy than previously, which is equivalent to the energy used by one average household per year. So a massive saving to both the environment and their company. The companies’ flagship coffee shop in Times Square, New York noticed a massive saving of $11,750 per year in energy savings and maintenance costs, once LED light bulbs were installed. The benefits Starbucks have found using LED lighting is plain to see.
The popular internet search engine has taken the world by storm, becoming a house hold name and leaving us wandering; what did we do before we said “I’ll go Google it”. With their recent move to new offices in London’s St. Giles, they also made a smart choice and invested in LED lighting. Designers used LED’s for both the functional office lighting and for decorative lighting. LED’s were chosen for their low energy consumption, keeping the company inline with the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) requirements. The Google offices are known for their unconventional aesthetics, such as “Snuggle Rooms”. LED lighting was used in many different ways to set the mood in the offices with suspended lighting, tube lighting and many other styles laid out in an unconventional office plan.
All of these businesses have seen the advantages of switching to LED lighting. From the savings in their electricity with thanks to the LED light bulbs low energy consumption, to the environmental benefits found by using less electricity. Hopefully in years to come, more businesses will start to reap the benefits offered by LED lighting and they will become commonplace for both decorative and practical lighting. LED’s have multiple applications and their versatility is a major factor to their appeal. They can be placed almost anywhere in the appropriate housing, so the possibilities are almost endless. So next time you are out doing your food shop, or sitting having dinner in a restaurant, have a look round and see if you can spot any LED light bulbs in place.
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