The U.S. Department of Energy (DoE), which works to reduce energy use in structures around the country, is doing the same thing for itself. The department has finished a fluorescent to LED upgrade to its headquarters, the James Forrestal Building in Washington, D.C. The press release says the upgrade could cut energy use by 45 percent in the areas of the building in which it is performed.
The upgrade, which was done in six months, involved more than 33,000 LEDs. It was performed by ADI Energy via an energy savings performance contract (ESPC) entered through the DoE’s ENABLE program. The energy services company installed Philips Lighting’s InstantFit LED Lamps. The LEDs, the press release says, can reduce energy use by 45 percent. They also have a longer lifespan than the lights they are replacing.
The ENABLE program accelerates the time frame of an ESPC. In this case, work on the building began within six months of the entry into the contract. The contract guarantees energy savings for the ESPC’s 13-year term.
LEDs may grow more efficient. A multi facility team in Hong Kong has developed an LED filament with a luminous capacity of 129lm/W, which is 1.5 times the efficiency of today’s LED filaments, according to Eco News. The cost and carbon emissions both are about 15 percent less than current LEDs.
