Commercial lighting

Warehousing is a business with razor-thin margins. Daylighting is a single upgrade that will cut costs while improving the working space.

At the A-1 Cold Storage warehouse near Los Angeles International Airport, SunTracker units pour in so much daylight that electric lighting can be turned completely off. They are so effective that A-1 turns off every row of the office's four-foot long fluorescent lamps at 9 a.m. and switches them back on at 5 p.m. In the winter, they're turned back on between 3-4 p.m. The warehouse follows a similar schedule.

The A-1 Cold Storage warehouse in Los Angeles, California. The SunTracker creates such an efficient lighting environment that the elctric lighting is shut off the majority of the working day.

REDUCED OPERATING COSTS

Approximately 86% of electricity in traditional buildings is dedicated to lights, fans and cooling. The Department of Energy says daylighting can reduce energy use in lighted buildings by 75 – 80%. The reported energy cost savings have ranged from 50 – 93%. With “green” issues now becoming tangible topics, tax incentives and subsidies are becoming increasingly available from utilities and governments.

Incorporating daylighting into new construction can actually lower other initial cap costs due to a smaller electrical load and a smaller number of electrical lighting fixtures to maintain. Factor in the reduction of the size and cost of HVAC operations plus maintenance costs and daylighting becomes an easy choice to make.

Manufacturing is the one market segment that can take best advantage of all of Daylighting’s main benefits — energy savings, greater human performance and reduced environmental pollution.

Patagonia has a renowned environmental sensitivity that includes many concerns about pollution. It expects a 'greener' bottom line.

David Abeloe, spokesman for the distribution center, explains how. "We estimated a pay back of three and a half years," he said. That number, based entirely on energy savings, proved to be on target for two reasons.

First, the daylighting system cut the number of fluorescent fixtures, lamps and wiring required to light the 171,000 sq. ft. center by about two-thirds. Secondly, it has reduced annual operating expenses by 1/3, according to Abeloe.

Reduced energy costs are an established fact for all daylighting users, but manufacturing enjoys many other tangible benefits.

REDUCED ERROR AND ACCIDENT RATES

The “Scrap Rate” is a measurable percentage of product that must be thrown away due to quality control issues. It is well-known that reduced work surface light levels cause high error rates in many industries. Daylighting is the perfect antidote.  The human eye can recognize many more colors and shades under daylight than under other light sources. It has also been proven that daylight increases depth perception and peripheral vision thereby helping to avoid accidents.

Because daylight is the only type of light that can fully activate the circadian clock with the human body, workers who spend their daytime hours under daylighting report fewer sleep related problems. It’s easy to extrapolate that a fully rested worker makes fewer mistakes.

REDUCED ABSENTEEISM

Employers who have installed optimally diffused light distribution systems see enhanced productivity in the work place along with significant reductions in absenteeism — upwards of 40%.