For further Information contact:
Dave Cary, Communication Specialist
Orion Energy Services
(920) 892-5804
dcary@oriones.com
Douglas “Duke” Long, Owner
Interstate Sawing Inc.
7403 Sleepy Hollow Rd.
West Bend WI
(262) 334-7522
For cutting not the concrete that is its stock-in-trade but the electric power it uses for lighting by half, the Interstate Sawing Company has received an Environmental Stewardship Award from Orion Energy Services of Plymouth WI.
The reduction was the result of the West Bend WI firm’s change in lighting from conventional outmoded metal halide lighting to state-of-the-art Orion T8 fluorescent technology. The 22,452 kilowatt-hours (kWh) Interstate saved has a beneficial effect on the environment because this power now no longer has to be generated at all.
According to Federal EPA formulas, a power saving this size will mean, over the 20-year life of the lighting fixtures, that some 438 tons of carbon monoxide, 119 tons of carbon, one ton of sulfur dioxide and three tons of nitrogen oxides – all products of electric power generation – will not enter the local atmosphere.
Stated another way, over the same time span the reduction is the equivalent of saving 40,822 gallons of gasoline or 972 barrels of fuel oil and is also calculated to be the equivalent of a four-acre forest or removing three cars from the road.
An environmental award appealed to the athletic Long, on whose office walls are framed mementoes from professional athletes he knows through working with the Make-a-Wish charities. Particularly valued is a photo of his own son sitting on the lap of bike racer Lance Armstrong, with whom Long had been acquainted since his own bicycle racing days.
“Cross-country skiing, national bicycle racing, organic foods, a belief in not putting too many chemicals on the crops — part of me is all about the environment and trying to do what we can to make things better,” commented Interstate owner Douglas “Duke” Long. “So that makes receiving an environmental award kind of special. We appreciate it very much.”
In the lighting project, Interstate replaced 19 465-watt metal halide lights with the same number of 227-watt six-tube Illuminator™ fixtures and retrofitted seven outmoded conventional 240-watt fluorescent fixtures to accept 115-watt T8 fluorescent technology. The power used for lighting fell by 51%. Power costs fell correspondingly.
“We’ve been absolutely pleased with the results,” Long said. “Our business is concrete cutting, so there’s heavy, heavy maintenance. Our mechanics are working on equipment all the time. They’re very happy with the new lighting — it had been dark and dingy where they worked, and their production went up.”
Long places a particular value on high employee morale because his crews operate on remote jobsites and tend to put in long hours almost autonomously, since the company’s work tends to come in fairly intense bursts rather than a steady flow. He insists on trucks being clean and in good shape, as well as equipped with air conditioning and aftermarket radio/player systems. He provides a fitness center which is available to employees and their families.
Long was named 2005 Contractor of the Year by Equipment World magazine.
“Important as they are, the benefits of this project do not end with cost savings, positive environmental impact and a better quality of light,” commented Orion president Neal Verfuerth. “Talking a chunk of power like 22,452 kWh off the power grid is a move in the direction of stable energy prices — and as recent events have emphasized, that’s an issue we’re all facing.”
“What we like most, though, is that Interstate didn’t have to give up a thing to get any of these benefits – for all the reductions, their lighting is better. That’s the way we like to see things work.”
Interstate Sawing Inc. specializes in cutting concrete and other construction materials for customers across Wisconsin. Interstate’s specialties include wall sawing, slab sawing, road sawing, wire sawing, deep sawing, core drilling, hydraulic splitting, curb cutting, concrete removal and repouring. Much of this work involves long and/or odd hours – emergency highway work, working around plant shutdowns, etc., and crews are typically available on two to four hours’ notice. Visit Interstate’s website at http://www.interstatesawing.com/
Located in Plymouth, WI, Orion Energy Systems has been innovating in the energy and lighting business since 1996. Orion’s innovative Illuminator ® fixture, an energy-efficient lighting platform for industrial applications, has been awarded a series of 12 patents from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Additionally, Orion has applied for numerous other patents related to metering and control technologies for lighting.
Neal Verfuerth, Orion President, received one of Wisconsin’s most prestigious awards, the Ernst & Young 2004 Manufacturing Entrepreneur of the Year.
Orion provides capacity displacement solutions for supply side management, transmission management, and demand side management for the electricity industry. Visit the Orion website at http://www.oriones.com/.
