New energy efficient LED lighting is showing up across New York (NY) and Connecticut (CT) due to increased interest in energy savings and going green. The demand for parking garage lighting has increased dramatically in the past two years due to rapidly rising electricity costs and the extended burn time of these types of facilities. Very often a parking garage is required to operate lighting 24/7, making a significant reduction in energy even more advantageous.
Due to advancements in new LED technology, the variety of lighting choices has drastically improved providing many choices for all application types including tube lights, wall packs and low and high bay lighting. Most quality LED products offer several Kelvin color temperatures allowing the end user to achieve a specific look and feel if desired.
LED lighting is much more efficient than conventional lighting technology, and that has led to bullish forecasts from market research firms. Many research firms are projecting the global LED market will see growth of at least 30 percent a year through 2014.
Leading parking garages in NY and CT have already completed LED lighting retrofit projects in an effort to reduce their carbon footprint and save money. Recently Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, SL Green Realty Corp. and Asforth are among just a few that have already taken advantage of these substantial savings in energy.
It's a win for everyone involved, the patrons of the parking facilities achieve a better quality of light and the owners or managers reduce their operating expenses while implementing an environmentally friendly solution.
"In addition it's a huge maintenance savings for the facilities." Traditional lighting solutions require frequent replacement and supplying the labor to replace those bulbs comes at significant cost as well. Facility managers also have to deal with the environmental waste from the existing bulbs which typically costs between $.50 - $.75 per tube. In larger downtown locations of the city disposal costs can be even more.
I speculate that in the very near future you will see more and more interest in adopting energy efficient LED lighting into similar properties across the nation.