Products & Solutions

Interview with Mike Loth: Lighting Industry

Lighting retrofits and the benefits

Mike Loth

Join Mike Loth, the Director of Lighting Strategy & Integration for Johnson Controls, for a question and answer session on the state of the lighting industry.

What are the growth drivers in the lighting industry?
One of the primary growth drivers in lighting is new commercial construction; however, with rising energy costs, more building owners are focusing on lighting retrofits to reduce their energy spend. The regulatory environment is another major driver accelerating change within our industry. In 2012, The U.S. federal lighting efficiency standards will weed out incandescent bulbs altogether by no longer producing 100-watt incandescent bulbs. In 2013, 75-watt bulbs will phase out, and the following year, 60- and 40-watt bulbs will begin their phase out.

This creates opportunities for lighting retrofits in all environments.

Speaking of LED’s, this lighting technology is getting a lot of press and seems to be gaining momentum. Why is this?
Every space requires a unique lighting solution, but LED lighting retrofits can offer businesses two key benefits: some fixtures can deliver up to an 85 percent energy savings, and the life span of LEDs average about 50,000 hours with potential to increase. Not only does this reduce a facility’s utility cost, but it also reduces the maintenance costs involved with changing out old lighting fixtures. Whether it’s high-efficiency fluorescent, high-intensity discharge, induction lamps, or LEDs, lamp technology is continuing to get better in terms of efficiency and life expectancy, which in turn is driving adoption higher, and the costs per delivered lumen lower.

Mike Loth

It’s said lighting can provide one of the quickest paybacks of any building system retrofit. Is this really the case?
It is, and even though it often provides one of the fastest paybacks, the lighting system is too often overlooked as a resource for generating significant savings. Changing an individual light or fixture may not have much of an impact, but perform a building-wide lighting retrofit and the savings add up quickly. Not to mention, incorporating lighting control technology, from occupancy and photocell sensors to more sophisticated bi-level switching and zone controls, can save building owners even more.

Other than the cost advantages lighting offers as a building retrofit, what other benefits have you seen in facilities that upgrade their lighting?
Non-financial benefits of lighting vary by facility type, but generally center around having healthier and more productive occupants. For instance, in a recent healthcare study, hospital patients were admitted to the bright or the dim side of the same hospital unit postoperatively. This study found that patients exposed to an increased intensity of both natural and high-quality lighting experienced less perceived stress, marginally less pain, took 22 percent less analgesic medication per hours, and had 21 percent less pain medication costs.

In office settings, workers report less fatigue when working long hours under LED light, which minimizes strain to the eyes. The often-mentioned Walmart study showed that products placed under brighter, more-natural lighting sold more than similar products placed in low-quality artificial light.

Lastly Mike, what facilities are the best candidates for lighting retrofits?
It really varies, but any facility with dated, inefficient lighting is a good candidate for a lighting retrofit. In short, building-wide lighting retrofits have a larger cost reduction and long-term benefits. They create more comfortable environments for patrons and employees.

To learn more about our Lighting Services, visit our lighting web page.


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