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Amerlux, Oakland, NJ, is working with Facility Solutions Group (FSG), Austin, TX, to launch a free energy audit program that will help municipalities and companies take advantage of $831 billion in federal reimbursements to fund LED retrofits before the monies expire.
As part of the program, FSG will provide energy management services so cities, colleges and companies understand how much they could save, based on their current infrastructure and usage. In addition, Amerlux will provide its Avista LED pedestrian light engine, which works in new post-top luminaires or retrofits, saves up to 75% in energy consumption and installs in less than 15 minutes per unit.
“Amerlux listens intently to solve marketplace problems with innovation,” said Amerlux CEO and president Chuck Campagna, in the press release. “City managers and facility managers realize that they can reduce energy consumption and crime by retrofitting with our Avista light engine. However, they don’t always know enough about their existing lighting fixtures to begin, so we have partnered with FSG to help our customers fast-track the process.”
Billion-dollar government incentives are motivating municipalities and corporations to make smarter energy decisions with regulations that underwrite the expense until the incentives expire in 2019. Federal regulations, such as the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007, continue to demand more energy efficiency with the next scheduled increase set for Jan. 1, 2020. Consequently, federal agencies and municipalities have started to turn their collective attention to LED solutions, which would position them for the higher standards.
In addition, energy efficiency is a big part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which remains in effect until the end of 2019. The $831 billion relief package offers plenty of line items for “green” technology. The law includes $13 billion worth of tax credits for companies to improve energy efficiency and another $4.5 billion for federal agencies to do the same.
A member of FSG’s “Green Squad” of auditors will analyze the situation, counting the number of fixtures and accessing the types of existing lights to verify that the Avista fixtures would work in the existing luminaires. FSG would provide the customer with a comprehensive report and an executive summary detailing the overall economics of the project, including existing energy costs, projected energy savings, maintenance savings, cost of the retrofit, grants and rebate eligibility, as well as the length of the project’s payback period.
To date, the City of Los Angeles has upgraded more than 600 decorative streetlights with Avista LED light engines. Since the upgrade, the city has realized a 75% reduction in lighting energy consumption and costs in the upgraded area, while visitors and residents are benefiting from enhanced visibility and greater peace of mind.