01 Feb Focusing on Energy Savings Saves Our Environment
As we embark on a new year and leave 2020 behind us, now is a great time to reflect on the energy savings we have achieved in the past year and make actional plans for the future. For more than 40 years, Lumenal Lighting has been a trusted lighting and electrical services provider in the Pacific Northwest. We have withstood seasonal changes, national economic downturns, technological advancements, and our most recent pandemic challenge. Through it all, Lumenal has endeavored to help our clients lower their energy usage costs and reduce their impact on the environment.
Our mission is to employ exceptional people who improve our environment by providing effective lighting and controls solutions.
– Bobbi McLeod, LC, Lumenal Lighting
Clients rely on Lumenal Lighting to help them reduce energy usage by upgrading their outdated commercial lighting systems with more efficient, LED solutions. Enhanced lighting and controls systems lower the financial impact of energy usage and result in smaller utility bills every month. Projects often pay for themselves through energy and maintenance cost savings in fewer than five years. Perhaps even more importantly, however, is that implementing higher-efficiency lighting reduces the negative impact that excessive energy usage has on our environment and natural resources. It is doubtful that many people will get excited about kilowatt-hours saved and carbon emission numbers, but how those numbers equate to things we see every day is astounding.
Reducing kWh Yields Big Rewards
By employing exceptional people and serving valued clients and partners, Lumenal Lighting helped reduce energy usage in the Pacific Northwest by over 9.2M kilowatt-hours (kWh) in 2020. We accomplished this feat by removing and replacing inefficient older lighting technologies and installing quality, high-efficacy LED lamps and fixtures. The resulting reduction in energy usage in the region was significant.
Lumenal Lighting calculated that we contributed to eliminating at least 9,246,714 kWh of energy use this past year. That is the equivalent of 6,538 metric tons of carbon dioxide. What do those numbers mean in real world terms?
- Equivalent to the greenhouse gas emissions from 1,412 passenger vehicles driven for one year
- Comparable to the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from 735,681 gallons of gasoline (at today’s average $2.83/gallon – that is over $2M worth)
- That amount of energy could have charged a smartphone for every single person living in Washington and Oregon 70 times
- The same amount of carbon dioxide removed from the environment would have required 8,538 ACRES of forest to accomplish
- Comparable to 318 garbage trucks of waste recycled instead of landfilled
View our complete 2020 Report Card from the United States Environmental Protection Agency [PDF].
Future Energy Savings
People and businesses are becoming far more conscious of their energy consumption and effective ways to reduce it. Upgrading to LED lighting is considered low hanging fruit in the energy services industry. The material costs of LED lighting have plummeted in the last decade, while its efficacy has skyrocketed. By choosing best in class manufacturers and products, clients are seeing a reduction in energy usage by upwards of 70%. With its growing popularity and the potential for utility and government incentives, clients can expect to see a surge of LED lighting projects in the Pacific Northwest. The region is often considered very green, and rightly so. Seattle and Portland metro areas are early adopters of energy conservation efforts. Lumenal Lighting expects to exceed 10M kilowatt-hours energy savings in 2021.
Contact us online or call Lumenal Lighting at (425) 481-5001 today to upgrade your commercial lighting and contribute to this year’s kWh energy savings goals.
Citations
- United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) – Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator
- Lumenal Lighting – About Lumenal Lighting
- Lumenal Lighting – LED Commercial Lighting Upgrades
- Lumenal Lighting – Lighting Utility Rebates Analysis