For further Information contact:
Dave Cary, Communication Specialist
Orion Energy Systems
Plymouth WI
dcary@oriones.com
(920)-892-5804
Tim Wasmer, Manager
Western Shore Aviation
Sheboygan County Airport
Sheboygan Falls WI
Western Shore Aviation, a fixed base aviation operation located in Sheboygan Falls WI., has been chosen to receive Orion’s environmental stewardship award for its recent annual 36,245 kWh lighting power reduction — better than 55 percent — that came as a result of a change in hangar lighting to a system from Orion energy Systems of Plymouth WI.
Environmentally, a power reduction this size means that over the 20-year life of the Orion system, some 707 tons of carbon dioxide, 193 tons of carbon, 3.1 tons of sulfur dioxide and 1.5 tons of nitrogen oxides will not be released into the atmosphere. It is also the air-scrubbing equivalent of a seven-acre forest or removing six cars from the road permanently and is the conservation equivalent of saving 2,992 gallons of gas each year. The move also cut the Matrex electric bill for lighting by over 50 percent, as well.
“After the installation, we tracked our power consumption, so we know the power reduction and savings are real and for us were huge” commented Western Shore Manager Tim Wasmer. “We appreciate receiving the award very much. Like many companies we look for environmentally-friendly things to implement but it’s not that easy to find ones you can afford..”
“I’d like to add that besides the power savings built into the Orion products compared to others, the fact that they turn on and off instantly also saves money because it meand people will turn off the lights. We knew that that doesn’t happen when you throuw a switch then wait five or ten minutes foir them to come fully on. And they’ve been almost a hands-off maintenance issue.”
In the project, Western Aviation replaced a combination of metal halide, quartz and scent incandescent lights with Orion Illuminator ® fixtures that use state-of-the-are T8 fluorescent technology.
Besides the inherently greater efficiency of the Orion system, Wasmer said, savings came from the fact that the Orion system could turn on and off instantly — in contrast to the five-to-ten-minute warmup required by most of the previous lighting, which meant it tended to be left on all the time.
Because of the change, Western Shore’s annual energy usage is projected to fall from 69,531 kilowatt-hours (kWh) to 33,286 kWh, a saving of 36,245 kWh, which is a drop of about 55 percent.
“Also important, however, is the fact that by reducing its electric power load, Millis is helping us move in the direction of stable energy prices. Government figures indicate that business use 70 percent of the power generated in the country and about a third of that goes just for lighting.”
“If all companies would do what Western Shore did here — change to energy-efficient lighting — we’d be headed away from the recent turbulence ion energy procing and towards the calm,” Verfuerth continued. “Our analysis indicates that if this happened, the power reduction would be equivalent to sixty typical power plants nationwide — sixty we wouldn’t have to fund and build, sixty we wouldn’t have to blend into the power grid with new transmission lines and equipment, sixty fewer to consume fuel.. And that would be just from lighting.”
“This is why we feel energy efficiency is a vitally important road to travel. And we congratulate Western Shore for helping us move toward calm er air.”
Western Shore Aviation is a full-service fixed base operator (FBO) that provides aircraft charters, maintenance, sales, aircraft and hangar rental, flight instructions, fuel and flight line services at Sheboygan County Memorial Airport, its corporate headquarters, and Manitowoc County Airport. Visit the Western shore website at www.westernshoreaviation.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 14 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/.
