LEDs cut warehouse’s lighting energy costs by 75%

Veeco Services, a leading, full-service logistics provider, operates a 615,000-square-foot warehouse in North Bergen, N.J. The warehouse is equipped with 117 dock doors and more than 34,000 pallet locations. To ensure employee safety and profitability, the company installed new LED lighting and lighting controls that have reduced energy consumption by 75% and will save $14,000 per year lighting maintenance in the first year.

In January 2019, an energy management company conducted a lighting audit. The results indicated the current high-intensity discharge (HID) fixtures were not only emitting poor lighting levels, but were wasting energy and expensive to maintain. Additionally, Veeco had upgraded to a new racking system that added more rows and narrow aisles.

The old lighting included 366 HID and fluorescent lighting fixtures throughout the aisles that drew a 150,825-watt load. Based on the facility’s operating hours, the lighting was using 1,062,500 kWh annually to deliver poor lighting levels.

The new lights (National E Solutions) include 168-watt high bay LEDs that produce 23,000 lumens each with a color temperature of 5,000 Kelvin. The new aisle lighting met the minimum standard for this application, with a target average of 25 to 30 foot-candles.

Richard Lynch, president and chief operating officer of Veeco, says employees are extremely happy with the results.

“We have increased the line of sight on the warehouse floor, which is critical to increasing efficiency and safety, and we have driven down energy costs significantly,” he says. “Installing a future-proof and upgradable IoT system gives us a lot of room to grow and further enhance employee satisfaction, safety and operational efficiencies down the road. It’s been a huge win for us.”

New wireless lighting controls with Internet of Things technology (Enlighted) further maximize energy savings. Each light fixture is equipped with a smart sensor connected to an advanced analytics platform. Data is collected 65 times per second to monitor environmental and occupancy changes and adjust lighting in real time. The upgradable system can also unlock IoT features like facility mapping and asset tracking.

With the new control system, each fixture has its own address, allowing the grouping of fixtures as needed. For example, if an employee is working in an aisle next to unoccupied aisles, lights in the empty aisles can be activated to serve as a backlight, improving safety and productivity.