Ohio Hospital Cures Costly Outdoor Lighting, Delivers New GE LED Fixtures in Parking Lot

Press release:

09 August 2012

Ohio Hospital Cures Costly Outdoor Lighting, Delivers New GE LED Fixtures in Parking Lot

 

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EAST CLEVELAND, Ohio — August 9, 2012 — (NYSE:GE) — Since 1892,Aultman has served Canton, Ohio, with exceptional health care services. In 2010, Stark County’s largest hospital and employer launched a project to serve patients and staff with exceptional new parking lot and parking deck illumination. Evolve™ LED lighting systems from GE Lighting proved the right prescription. Onlookers are remarking on an “incredible difference,” and Aultman found that it has delivered a healthy $13,000 annual energy cost savings to its campus.

The hospital first trialed GE’s Evolve LED Area Lights in its new employee parking lot in May 2010. Impressed with light quality and uniformity, Aultman moved quickly to retrofit a second older lot using high-pressure sodium (HPS) fixtures with the same LED solution.

Thirty-two Evolve LED Area Lights replaced 52 HPS fixtures in the lot, creating a much-improved sense of security among associates, according to Pooley.

“Our security team stood on top of our building and looked down into the lot – everything was completely evenly lit, the continuity of light was absolutely incredible,” said Betsy Pooley, director of building services for Aultman. “With the old fixtures, you had a blob of light, but then you’d go two parking spaces over and it was dark. That wasn’t there anymore. It was a dramatic difference, from making out the color of a car to reading a license plate with our security cameras.

“The hospital is right in the middle of a residential area, so one of the concerns administration had was, ‘Are the neighbors going to be upset?’ We haven’t received any negative feedback – visibility is excellent and light pollution isn’t an issue whatsoever.”

Aultman’s average expense to light the HPS-equipped lot was $1,500 per month including the cost of an electrical contractor to replace lamps at the end of life. Since the LED conversion, the hospital found that its utility bill has fallen to $400, and Pooley hasn’t placed a service call yet.

“We drive by the lot every day to ensure everything is OK, but we haven’t touched it at all since the lights were installed nearly two years ago,” she said, adding it costs just $60 a month to light Aultman’s newest lot where the LEDs were initially installed.

During this time Pooley also evaluated a competitive fixture on the ground level of the hospital’s three-tier parking deck but determined budget would not permit outfitting the entire structure. At a trade show later that year, she discovered GE’s Evolve LED Garage Light fixture.

“We knew at once, ‘This is the one!’ The quality of light was better, the distribution was better. It was a much sturdier fixture than what we had, and the price point was right,” she said.

Aultman has since replaced all T12 strip lighting in the lower level of its 250,000-square-foot garage with new LED fixtures. When the parking deck project concludes later this year, more than 120 Evolve LED Garage lights will brighten the first and second tiers, with more than 60 Evolve LED Area Lights illuminating the open rooftop.

“We’ve had such success with GE’s lighting systems that as we move forward renovating parking lots or looking at buildings, the Evolve LED is the new standard for the Aultman campus,” Pooley said.

Combining the latest in LED system electronics, thermal management, and mechanical and optical design, high-efficiency GE Evolve LED fixtures make the advantages of LED lighting a practicality in parking lots and general lighting applications. They provide an estimated 10-year service life (50,000-hour rated life) that is four times the recommended service interval of traditional high-intensity discharge (HID) lighting. Additionally, Evolve LED optics offer more directional focus of light, reducing spillover to surrounding areas.

For more information on the GE Lighting products used in this project, visitwww.gelightingsolutions.com.

About AultmanThe Aultman Health Foundation is a not-for-profit healthcare organization serving Stark and surrounding counties. The vertically integrated institution includes Aultman Hospital, the locally managed health-insurance provider AultCare, The Aultman Foundation and Aultman College of Nursing and Health Sciences. With 682 beds, 530 active physicians and a staff of more than 5,000 employees, Aultman is Stark County's largest hospital. For more information, visit www.aultman.org.

About GE Lighting
GE Lighting invents with the vigor of its founder Thomas Edison to develop energy-efficient solutions that change the way people light their world in commercial, industrial, municipal and residential settings. The business employs over 17,000 people in more than 100 countries, and sells products under the Reveal^® and Energy Smart^® consumer brands, and Evolve™, GTx, Immersion ™, Infusion ™, Lumination^™ and Tetra^® commercial brands, all trademarks of GE. General Electric (NYSE: GE) works on things that matter to build a world that works better. For more information, visitwww.gelighting.com.

Energy-efficient Lights on the National Mall

News release from the U.S. Dept. of Energy:

Salazar, Chu Flip Switch on 65% Energy Savings

January 30, 2012

WASHINGTON, D.C. —Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, the National Park Service and the Trust for the National Mall today hosted a lighting ceremony to celebrate the installation of energy-efficient LED lights on the Mall.  The LED lights, donated by OSRAM SYLVANIA and installed pro bono by Pepco, the electric utility that serves Washington, D.C., will reduce lighting energy use for the streetlamps by up to 65 percent.

“Achieving an economy built on American energy will require an all-of-the-above approach, one that includes safely and responsibly developing our domestic energy resources – and making the most of what we have available through efficiencies,” said Secretary Salazar. “There is no more fitting place to build a model of energy efficiency than right here in America’s front yard, the National Mall, with the installation of these LED lights.”

"Using energy-efficient LED light bulbs is an important way Americans can save money by saving energy," said Secretary Chu. "Investing in an American economy that is built to last includes taking advantage of all of America's energy resources while working to improve efficiency. Installing these energy efficient bulbs on the National Mall is an important demonstration of our commitment to partnering with the private sector to promote energy saving technologies."

Salazar and Chu were joined by Caroline Cunningham, President of the Trust for the National Mall, Bob Vogel, Superintendent of the National Mall and Memorial Parks and leadership from OSRAM SYLVANIA, Pepco and Siemens Corporations, Sylvania’s parent company.

“The generosity of Sylvania and Pepco has progressed our goal of making the National Mall a role model in sustainable urban park development,” said Caroline Cunningham, President of the Trust for the National Mall.  “Sylvania and Pepco's leadership and commitment show the power of public/private partnerships in advancing the Trust's mission to enhance the beauty, usefulness and sustainability of the National Mall for current and future generations.”

OSRAM SYLVANIA contributed 174 LED bulbs and the retrofit kits needed to install them in the historic bronze streetlamps that line the Mall from 3rd to 15th streets. The kits replaced the Mall’s high intensity discharge (HID) and compact fluorescent lighting (CFL) with advanced solid-state lighting.

“SYLVANIA is honored to light our nation’s favorite national park with innovative and cutting-edge LED technology assembled here on U.S. soil,” said Rick Leaman, President and CEO of OSRAM SYLVANIA. “This energy-efficient lighting transformation of our country’s National Mall will create a brilliant display of light while also providing a welcoming environment to visitors in the years to come.”

Pepco overhead line crews installed the LED bulbs pro bono.

“Pepco is proud to have been part of the federal reconstruction of the National Mall in the 1930’s when Pepco overhead crews first installed the streetlights that line the Mall,” said Joseph M. Rigby, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Pepco Holdings, Inc. “Today we are proud to be part of another illumination of the Mall by installing attractive, energy-efficient lights in the original historic lamp posts.”  Rigby is Chairman Emeritus of the National Trust’s Corporate Committee.

The new LED technology provides a better-lit and more secure atmosphere for visitors after dark, while preserving the architectural integrity of the original fittings.  The technology is not only brighter, but it lasts longer than most conventional light sources.  In fact, the Park Service will not have to replace these lamps for an estimated 25 years.  LEDs also provide significant maintenance cost savings by lasting 2-6 times longer than HID lamps. The directional light distribution of high power LEDs allows the delivery of light only where needed, reducing wasted light and minimizing light trespass and upward emissions. LEDs are an environmentally preferable lighting solution, containing no mercury or lead.

“The National Park Service is grateful for the generosity of Sylvania and Pepco, and for the support of the Trust for the National Mall. We are committed to promoting sustainability on the Mall and this project is helping us do that,” said Superintendent Vogel.