Craft brewer enjoys full-bodied savings

Stone Brewing Co. is the 10th largest craft brewer in the United States, with a 16-year growth rate of more than 40%. The company considered fluorescent lighting for a new 69,000-square-foot bottling and kegging addition to its flagship brewery in Escondido, Calif. After installing an intelligent LED high-bay lighting system, the company cut 79% of the costs associated with basic LED alternatives.

While the addition’s initial designs specified T8 fluorescent lighting, the company also evaluated basic LEDs, LEDs with add-on sensors, and intelligent LEDs with integrated controls. “We were surprised by the range of energy savings among the technologies as well as the differing levels of quality, integration and control,” says Joshua Lichtman, associate project manager for Stone Brewing. “The new system uses occupancy and daylight sensors to automatically deliver light when and where it is needed, based on parameters we’ve set and control.”

On sunny days, for instance, the windows and skylights now provide up to 100% of the facility’s lighting and the intelligent LEDs (Digital Lumens, digitallumens.com) are automatically dimmed completely.

The management team is also able to gather metered data on how the system is performing, from kWh used to occupancy patterns and daylight harvesting savings. Accessed through the system’s integrated software, the data has helped configure timeout settings to reflect actual usage patterns. The software features preset lighting profiles, such as “cleaning,” “brewery tours” or “production shift” that can be activated automatically depending on the time of day or week.

The company estimates it has saved 86% of the annual energy costs associated with the T8 fluorescent fixtures specified in the initial design, contributing to a 1.77-year project payback while avoiding the re-lamping, re-ballasting and mercury disposal costs associated with HIF alternatives.