Project Sunroof: mapping the planet’s solar energy potential, one rooftop at a time

Google's Project Sunroof is helping homeowners map the solar energy potential power to their home.

The cost of solar power is at a record low. A typical solar home can save hundreds or even thousands of dollars per year on their electricity bill.  But, as a volunteer with the Boston-based solar program Solarize Massachusetts and a solar homeowner myself, I’ve always been surprised at how many people I encounter who think that “my roof isn’t sunny enough for solar,” or “solar is just too expensive.” Certainly many of them are missing out on a chance to save money and be green.

Check out the blog for the project here.

Lighting Design: California DMV in Sacramento goes LED

Pre Retrofit

This project was designed to achieve significant energy savings to meet code requirements which required both the general lighting and task lighting loads be reduced without sacrificing occupant satisfaction and visual comfort.

Task-ambient lighting provides an estimated 40 – 50%  energy savings over current energy codes. It has the potential for 600 – 700 MW demand reduction statewide, and  2,000 – 3,000 GWh annually. It should provide an annual  energy savings of about 15 – 25 cents per square foot of building space, meaning  $300 million to $400 million annual energy savings for California. The simple payback is immediate  to one year when used in new construction projects. It has a four- to seven-year simple payback in retrofit projects.

Post Retrofit

Features

• High-quality ambient and task lighting for an aesthetically pleasing office environment
• Energy-efficient LED task light components that can be customized to the individual workspace
• Optional personal occupancy sensor to control  task lights

Read the study click here.

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LED lighting makes all the difference in classrooms at one elementary school

How beneficial is LED lighting? At Cherokee Elementary School in Scottsdale, Ariz., new-fangled LED lighting fixtures not only save energy, they also prevent special education students with autism from being bothered by fluorescent lighting. Researchers maintain that individuals with autism are more vulnerable to the sub-visible flicker of direct fluorescent lighting, which can cause headaches, eyestrain and increased repetitive behavior. 


Call Aztec Electrical today at (541) 245-8560 to learn more about using our #lightingdesign services in conjunction with rebates and incentives from the Energy Trust of Oregon.

In this pilot project, Scottsdale Unified School District replaced 69 2x4-foot fluorescent lighting troffers in four special education classrooms with 60 2x2-foot flat-panel LED fixtures from lighting manufacturer MaxLite. The install has the added benefit of energy savings.

The new lighitng used MLFP22D4535 2x2 Direct Lit Flat Panels. These panels each emit 3,850 lumens of brightness while using just 45 watts. The lumen power is far less than the 8,000 lumens the school’s previous fluorescent troffers offered, but those classrooms had been overly lit. 

Source: adapted from material at the K12 TD web site.

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Research: dimmable lights, done correctly, save energy

Call Aztec Electrical today at (541) 245-8560 to learn how our services can assist your project with new lighting technology. 

We can assist you with understanding the available rebates and incentives to improve your lighting project ROI.

Our #electrical and #lightingdesign services include #ledlighting.

Recent studies estimate more than 800 million recessed downlights are in operation in the United States, split nearly equally between residential and commercial applications, with about 83% still using incandescent lamps. Inexpensive compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) downlights are commercially available, but most of these units are not dimmable, which is a desired attribute for many downlight applications. Therefore, energysaving CFLs often are overlooked in lieu of the functionality of incandescents.

Bidwell Mansion Visitor Center,
Chico, CA

Installation of LED downlights in retrofit and new construction situations is almost identical to typical incandescent or CFL recessed downlights. The exception is that many LED downlight housings can be in direct contact with insulation. Replacement scenarios are generally one-to-one in retrofit applications. Equipment costs range from $100 to $300 depending on the manufacturer and distributor, but costs may  be offset by maintenance savings and utility rebates. 


BENEFITS:

• The HALO LED recessed downlight is the first ENERGY STAR-rated LED downlight and exceeds the high efficacy requirements set by energy regulations
• High color rendering and warm white color temperature: 80CRI at 3045K
• Delivers light equivalent to many standard incandescent sources used in recessed downlight applications
• Dimmable to 15% of total light output with standard AC incandescent dimmers, 5% with low-end trim adjustment

Article Source: UC Davis

LED Retrofit: Local business installs new lighting tehnology (video)

The Rrrink in Medford, a popular skating rink, took advantage of rebates and incentives to install 400 watt metal halide, to LED lighting. See more information and pictures here.

New Lighting Technology: What Are Benefits To Small Business?

The owner of Mishka’s café, had two  goals for the recent lighting upgrade in his café: create a cozy, inviting  atmosphere for customers and save energy. In the main seating area  alone he was able to cut his lighting energy use 85% by upgrading to LED lighting.

Throughout the rest of the café, energy consumption for lighting  has been cut in half, reducing Mishka’s annual energy use by over 10,000 kWh and saving nearly $2,000 every year in energy  costs. The lighting upgrade will have paid for itself after just eight  months, and because LEDs last up to fifty times longer than older light sources, the lighting retrofit is producing others savings too.

“It’s not just the cost of buying the light bulb, but needing to drive to the store, spending time to install it, the inconvenience to customers...

Time and maintenance savings are vastly undervalued,” says the cafe owner.  LED lamps can last more than 50,000 hours, meaning there is less time changing lamps and more time focusing on the customers. It also means less waste sent to the landfill every year.

Call Aztec Electrical today at (541) 245-8560 to learn how our services can assist your project with new lighting technology. We can assist you with understanding the available rebates and incentives to improve your ROI.

#electrical  #lightingdesign  #ledlighting

Lighting Retrofit: hospital secures 66% energy savings

In 2014, NorthBay VacaValley Hospital became one of the first U.S. health care facilities to install an energy-efficient, ultra-smart outdoor LED lighting system. The award-winning project was so successful that the NorthBay Healthcare group is now considering expanding the VacaValley system and retrofitting the outdoor lighting at other sites.

Prior to installing the networked LED system, NorthBay VacaValley Hospital’s  exterior lighting consisted of 40 induction luminaires, 13 high-pressure sodium  (HPS) luminaires, and 7 metal halide luminaires, all operating at full lighting power  throughout the night.

A total of 57 luminaires were installed with dimmable LED technology for the  lighting demonstration. Motion sensors were installed to provide maximum  coverage of the site, ensuring lights operate at sufficient levels when occupants  are detected and use less energy when areas are vacant. An “ultra-smart” lighting  control network was also put in place, giving facility managers the ability to adjust  lighting schedules, light levels and time-out settings, monitor the system’s  energy use, and receive automated alerts when luminaires require maintenance.

UC Davis’s California Lighting Technology Center (CLTC) customized the lighting  components to integrate them into a single, fully functional system and worked  with hospital personnel to ensure system settings meet the site’s lighting needs.  The retrofit reduced the site’s exterior lighting energy use by 66.4%, dramatically reduced lighting maintenance needs, and received positive reviews from about 88% of end-users surveyed for feedback.

Call Aztec Electrical today at (541) 245-8560 to learn how our services can assist your project with new lighting technology. We can assist you with understanding the available rebates and incentives to improve your ROI.

#electrician #lightingdesign