Performing a LED retrofit on your property: Do it yourself – but do it - by George Crawford

July 03, 2018 - Owners Developers & Managers
George Crawford, 
Green Partners

More and more buildings are trending towards LED retrofits. There is growing awareness that LED lighting products actually do perform as advertised in terms of reducing electric consumption and related utility costs. A recent conversation with Mike Walsh of Greenhill Management LLC, responsible for a portfolio of buildings in Queens, brought this issue into full focus. He said the he had just reviewed his electric bills for a number of his buildings covering the before and after electric charges with regard to his recent LED retrofit. He said that he was amazed at the reduction in his bills. Overall, he advised, his electric charges fell by half following his LED retrofit. This information was of particular interest, because most common area electric bills are based on electric meter readings reflecting usage from a range of common area equipment  including, pumps, fans and lobby air-conditioning to name a few possibilities. It is unusual to have the common area lighting isolated onto one meter. This 50% drop in actual electrical consumption confirmed the original project reduction calculations based on estimates developed utilizing Con Ed information. This particular retrofit was designed and installed by a vendor specializing in LED retrofits. The question here is: Could this project have achieved the same results (a 50% reduction in electrical consumption) if ownership decided on a “do it yourself” approach.

First,  let’s start by  breaking down building lighting upgrades by area – hallways, basement, stairs, lobby etc.–and then get to the “do it yourself” options as compared to an installation performed by a vendor specializing in LED upgrades. If you compare the lighting in your own properties to the information below, you can determine where your building stands in terms of lighting efficiencies and the value of moving forward to LED.

• Hallways:  Traditionally hallways were lit with 60 watt A19s. These A19s are a familiar lighting product, used in literally every household. In hallways, they were usually configured with three lamps in each fixture for a consumption total of 180 watts. With this fixture operating 24/7, it would cost $376 per year to operate one lamp fixture. In a 12 story multifamily building, with 60 of these fixtures in the hallways, it would cost a total of $22,560  annually. The next step, in terms of better efficiencies, was to move to CFL lamps (compact fluorescents). These lamps consumed 13 watts each – a wattage reduction from the A19s. Lamping the 60 ceiling fixture with 3 CFLs in each fixture, would cost $4,881 annually as opposed to the $22,560 for the A19s. Then moving on to the world of LED lighting, one option for improvement would be to replace the CFLs with a LED A19s. This upgrade would require retrofitting each fixture to accept LED A19s. Each A19 consumes 9 watts and has a warranty of 5 years. The operating cost of a three lamp fixture with LED A19s for 60 ceiling fixtures would drop to $3,389.40. In this instance the most efficient solution would be to retrofit each fixture with one LED module which consumes only 10 watts (as opposed 27 watts for the LED A19s), comes with a 10-year warranty and would drop the operating cost to $1,255 per year. Both of these LED solutions would require a retrofit of the light fixture.

• Basements: Before, basements were lit by A19s – a costly solution. With the introduction of fluorescents, most basements were then lit by T12 fluorescent strip lighting which consumed 80 watts ($168 per year for a two lamp fixture). Then came the T8 fluorescents which cost $134 per year to operate. The most efficient lighting option is the 24 Watt LED with an operating cost of $50.45 per year. This LED option is a retrofit of the existing T12 or T8 fixture. This retrofit is designed so that the retrofitted fixture looks like a new fixture.

• Stairs: Originally stairs were lit with 60 watt A19s at an operating cost of $126 per year for each lamp. With the introduction of fluorescents, the most efficient option was either the 40 Watt circle-line or a linear tube at an operating cost of $84 per year. With the LED bi-level fixture at 6 watts, the average annual cost of operation is $12.61 per fixture.

• Lobby: Lobbies are lit with candle lamps. The original candle was a 40 Watt lamp which cost $84 each to operate on an annual basis. Then came the 25 watt candle at a cost of $52.56 per year. Now with the LED 5 watt candle, the cost has dropped to $10.51 per year.

In terms of installing LED products “in house” or engaging a vendor who specializes in LED installations, there are steps involved in the LED retrofit process, which are as follows:

1. Survey the existing lighting in the facility by area, hallways, basement, etc. The survey should include the type of lighting, the watts and lumens of the lighting products surveyed.

2. Identify a LED product to replace each lamp in your survey along with warranty information

3. List the pricing for each LED product in order to develop a total cost of the product and then add the installation cost for a total cost.

4. Determine the availability of funding for the project.

5. Develop a model of the project, so that you will have the before and after kWh consumed in order to determine the return on the LED retrofit investment.   

Reviewing these steps from an “in house” perspective, the key step is to identify the best LED products to replace the existing lighting. There are retail LED products available, but once you get beyond A19s and  LED candles, most of the better LED product solutions are difficult to source. You could skip the modeling of the project and just go forward on the assumption that electric consumption will go down. You should assume that the product warranties would not be collectible. Going back to a retail source with a warranty five years after purchase is doubtful at best.

 So yes, a LED retrofit could be done “in house,” but the results would not be at the same level as a LED retrofit performed by a vendor that specializes in retrofits, has access to the latest LED products and will stand behind the warranties in terms of coordinating the process with the manufacturers.

With Local Law 88 looking over your shoulder -  You Need to Just Do It.

George Crawford is the principal of Green Partners, New York, N.Y.

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