Orion Energy Systems: Trading old lighting for new earns environmental award for heat exchanger manufacturer

For further Information contact:
Dave Cary, Communication Specialist
Orion Energy Systems Inc
(920) 892-5804
dcary@oriones.com

Bill Banasik
Engineering Manager
Chart Heat Exchangers, Inc.
La Crosse WI

A 52% saving of 384,147 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year has earned for Chart Heat Exchangers Inc. an Environmental Stewardship Award from Orion Energy Services, of Plymouth WI.

The reduction was the result of the La Crosse WI firm’s change in lighting from conventional outmoded metal halide lighting to state-of-the-art Orion T8 fluorescent technology. The 384,147 kWh Chart 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 7,491 tons of carbon monoxide, 2,043 tons of carbon, 32.6 tons of sulfur dioxide and 15.7 tons of nitrogen oxides – all pollutant 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 535,686 gallons of gasoline or 15,135 barrels of fuel oil and is also calculated to be the air-scrubbing equivalent of a 70-acre forest or removing 62 cars from the road.

“It’s nice to be able to help the environment with something that actually improves the bottom line,” commenter Chart engineering Manager Bill Banasik. “Especially in this day and age when energy costs are going up.”

“It’s also nice that Orion goes the second mile in publicizing the environmental benefit. With so many companies, you buy something and never hear from them again.”

All told, in six bays, two test booth and a crane area Chart replaced some 270 fixtures – mostly 400-watt metal halides – with 270 227- and 115-watt Orion Illuminator ™ fixtures. The change dropped power used by Chart’s lighting system from 751,383 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year to 367,236, a 52% saving of 384,147 kWh per year.

“With the Orion lights, there’s a cost savings of $2500 a month to us, as close as we can calculate,” Banasik said. “The payback on the job is about two years — we had our own electricians put them in, so we also saved money that way.” The new system, he said, had been well-received by the Chart workforce.

“It’s always nice to see a chunk of power like Chart’s 384,147 kWh come off the power grid,” commented Orion president Neal Verfuerth. “Besides benefiting themselves and the environment, it benefits all of us because it tends to have a stabilizing effect on electric rates. What they have done could well be a model for other businesses.”

“But best of all, Chart didn’t have to do without or sacrifice anything to get all this – and that’s the way we think things ought to work.”

Chart Heat Exchangers Inc. serves global markets through its United States. Headquartered in Garfield Heights, Ohio, Chart has domestic operations located in seven states and an international presence in Australia, China, the Czech Republic, Germany and the United Kingdom. Chart uses brazed aluminum technology in the production of plate-fin heat exchangers; it is one of only six companies in the world to manufacture these exchangers, (and the only company in North America) which are typically 20% the size of comparable performance carbon or stainless steel shell and tube exchangers. Chart technology leads to lower capital costs, lower installation costs and lower operating costs over a wide range of both cryogenic and non-cryogenic applications. The multiple stream capabilities of the Chart heat exchanger simplifies multiple shell & tube limited stream configurations into a single compact brazed aluminum unit. This tends to minimize engineering, insulation, support systems, testing, documentation, transportation and site arrangements. Among the benefits of Chart Heat Exchangers are lower operating temperatures, lower capital costs, flexible design and lower installation and operating costs. Visit Chart’s website at http://www.chart-ind.com/app_hcp_heatexchangers.cfm

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/.