MRO Today - Ford shines a new light

Ford shines a new light

The opportunity to improve the efficiency of its facilities’ overhead lighting systems became apparent after Ford Motor Company engaged energy services company New England Energy Management to conduct an audit of its 227,000–square–foot Windsor Locks, Connecticut, High Velocity Center (HVC). In a subsequent report to facility managers at Ford, New England Energy proposed replacing 650 existing HID lighting fixtures (400- and 1000-watt metal halide and pulse-start metal halide lamps) with more energy-efficient linear fluorescent lighting from GE Consumer & Industrial. These would be coupled with motion sensors that could reduce light output (and energy usage) 50 percent at times of lower activity in the aisles of the warehouse.

HID can’t hide from fluorescent efficiency
“Following the audit, we knew that in this application, the right fluorescent lighting system could outperform the existing HID,” says Scott Hinson, president of New England Energy Management, an energy services company.

Hinson’s firm designed and submitted the efficiency project to Connecticut Light & Power’s (CL&P) RFP Program on behalf of Ford. CL&P awarded a 75 percent incentive based on the high benefit-to-cost ratio score.

The energy savings of the HID-to-fluorescent retrofit at the Hartford-area Windsor Locks HVC exceeded expectations, achieving a seven-month payback using CL&P’s incentive rebate. Hinson says yearly energy savings tied to the Windsor Locks lighting retrofit will exceed $78,000 (651,283 kWh).

Optimum solution
For the new lighting system, New England Energy turned to longtime partner and fixture manufacturer Optimum Lighting, which engineered a specially designed Optimum fixture that could be outfitted with GE’s latest program-start fluorescent lamps and ballasts to outperform the existing HID lighting. New England Energy installed six-lamp Optimum fixtures fitted with F32T8/XL/HL linear fluorescent lamps and UltraStart electronic ballasts from GE Consumer & Industrial.

UltraStart program-start ballasts match the high efficiency, energy savings and performance benefits of instant-start ballasts, while protecting lamp life in frequently switched applications (five or more switches per day). GE initiated a similar lighting retrofit that targeted nearly 150 of its facilities in 2006. Much of that retrofit involved T8 fluorescent lamps replacing HID lamps to cut energy consumption at each facility by as much as 50 percent.

And then there were 18
The impressive results in Windsor Locks opened the door to Ford’s Detroit headquarters. Ford and New England Energy signed a performance-based energy services agreement to retrofit an additional 17 High Velocity Centers with the energy–efficient lighting system from Optimum and GE Consumer & Industrial.

New England Energy will replace a total of nearly 12,000 fixtures with about 96,000 GE F32T8/XL/HL 5000K linear fluorescent lamps and 16,000 GE UltraStart® ballasts at the additional 17 HVC facilities. The lighting system installation is expected to be complete before the end of 2007. Overall energy savings each year are expected to reach 20 million kWh.

“Environmentally, reducing energy consumption for Ford by more than 2 megawatts is huge. There’s no cleaner power than the power you don’t use,” declares Hinson.

The switch significantly improves the quality of light and could help decrease pick rate errors. With the new GE T8 lamps, the color-rendering index (CRI) improves to 85 vs. 65 CRI for the HID lamps being replaced. The GE T8 lamps also offer superior light levels, maintaining over 90 percent of lumens over the life of the lamp. The HID lamps could lose as much as 60 percent of light output over the life of the lamp.

Cooling off, period
Because the distribution facilities don’t have air conditioning, an added bonus is cooler operation of the fluorescent lamps compared with the HID lamps. The change is expected to help create a more comfortable working environment.

The move to the new lighting system also standardizes lighting in the distribution facilities for easier maintenance. With six lamps in each fixture independently circuited to the ballast, if one lamp fails, the others stay lit. As a result, the fixture doesn’t need maintenance right away because just 18 percent of the light is lost. A single ballast can adapt automatically to any voltage from 108V to 305V.

Ford’s success with its new fluorescent lighting systems serves as a testament for other manufacturers considering lighting retrofits. It proves that keeping an eye on the environment doesn’t necessarily cut at the bottom line — it can build on it. Item 146

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