On February 12th, the Obama Administration announced a multi-agency initiative to spur regional economic growth while making buildings more energy efficient.  Seven federal agencies, including the Dept. of Energy, Dept. of Labor and the Small Business Administration, issued a combined Funding Opportunity Announcement of nearly $130 million over five years to create a regional research center that will develop new building efficiency technologies and work with local partners to implement the technologies in area buildings. Since buildings account for nearly 40 percent … Continue reading

New Jersey's SmartStart Buildings program offers valuable rebates for commercial and industrial customers looking to implement energy-efficient lighting projects in their facilities. SmartStart is sponsored by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities in partnership with local gas and electric utilities and is funded through the New Jersey Societal Benefits Charge. These rebates are available to non-residential retail electric service customers of Atlantic City Electric, Jersey Central Power & Light, Rockland Electric Company, New Jersey Natural Gas, Elizabethtown Gas … Continue reading

The National Energy Technology Lab has announced on behalf of the US Department of Energy that it is funding 17 solid state lighting projects with over $37M of American Recovery and Reinvestment funds.  The goal of the solid state lighting project is to develop advanced solid-state lighting technologies by the year 2025 that, compared to conventional lighting technologies, are much more energy efficient, longer lasting, and cost competitive by targeting a product system efficiency of 50 percent with lighting that accurately reproduces sunlight spectrum. Three of the p … Continue reading

The Environmental Protection Agency has just announced the ENERGY STAR National Building Competition, the first coast-to-coast contest for commercial buildings to save energy and fight global warming. ENERGY STAR partners are being asked to nominate one or more of the facilities they own or manage from across the country for consideration. Approximately a dozen contest participants will be selected by EPA and will "work off the waste" through improvements in energy efficiency with help from EPA's ENERGY STAR program. The building that reduces its energy use the most on a … Continue reading

We're often asked how 4-lamp T5HO High Bays and 6-lamp T5HO High Bay Fixtures fare when compared with traditional 400W Metal Halide fixtures.  The chart below compares 4-lamp and 6-lamp T5 fixtures against a traditional 400W Metal Halide High Bay along a number of dimensions.  The comparison dimensions are listed below with a short description of each.   400W MH Compared to 4-Lamp and 6-Lamp T5 HO High Bays Comparison Dimension 400W Metal Halide 4-Lamp T5 High Bay 6-Lamp T5 High Bay Number of Lamps 1 4 6 Lamp Watts (W) 400 216 324 Fixture Watts (W) 455 … Continue reading

One of the most common questions that facility and operation managers ask is “How much light do I need to properly illuminate my facility?” Since 1958, the Illuminating Engineering Society has been publishing recommended illuminance levels for a multitude of tasks and facility types in table form.  The published tables provide guidance for both generic tasks and hundreds of very specific tasks.  In order to understand these tables, it’s best to start with an overview of how light is measured. This article gives a brief explanation of how light is measured and provides … Continue reading