Orion Energy Services: Orion Environmental Stewardship Award presented to Burkart auto dealership

Dave Cary, Communication Specialist


Orion Energy Services


1204 Pilgrim Rd.


Plymouth WI 53073


(920) 892-2935


dcary@oriones.com


 


Mike Burkart, co-owner


Mike Burkart Ford/Mercury


3110 County PP, Plymouth WI 53073


(920) 893-6361


mike@burkartford.com


  


When power usage is reduced, the power that is saved does not have to be generated at all — and this fact produces some real and measurable environmental benefits, according to the Federal EPA.


 


Due to a retrofit with lighting from Orion Energy Services of Plymouth, Mike Burkart Ford/Mercury — also of Plymouth — trimmed the amount of power it uses for lighting 53%, cutting lighting power consumption from 88,499 kWh per year to 42,632, a saving of 45,867 kWh per year. 


 


According to federal figures, this saving means that 45 tons of carbon dioxide, twelve tons of carbon, 400 pounds of sulfur dioxide and 200 pounds of nitrogen oxides — all greenhouse gases — will not be released into the atmosphere each year.


 


This reduction is also the air-scrubbing equivalent of an eight-acre forest or removing seven cars from the road and the conservation equivalent of saving 3,786 gallons of gasoline each year.


 


This qualified Burkart Ford/Mercury for Orion’s Environmental Stewardship Award.


 


Co-owner (along with partner Tom Beringer) Mike Burkart said he appreciated receiving the award, which had come as a surprise. “We weren’t expecting an environmental award for this, obviously,” he said. “We try to be environmentally conscious but there doesn’t always seem to be a big opportunity for it in our business. One thing we do is use waste oil for heat — this is strongly recommended by the DNR and EPA as a way to recycle or re-use oil. We do what we can.”


 


Burkart, whose dealership is located about a block from Orion’s headquarters, chuckled when asked how the lighting project got its start. “The project came about because your sales staff’s been after us for a couple of years,” Burkart said. “But I have to add that once you see the cold, hard facts — the energy savings — the decision to change is a no-brainer.”


 


“We did two shop areas, our service drive and our delivery room — that’s a nice, tiled place where new or used cars are prepared for their new owners — washed and waxed and gassed. The salesman can give the new owner a walk-around, and then it’s kind of like driving off a showroom floor.”


 


Burkart said the dealership was pleased with the new lighting all the way around.


“I am confident the savings are present, though I haven’t checked bills all that closely. Our light quality is easily two times as good now. Our techs can see a lot better, and it’s also nice that you can turn them on and off without having to let them cool down for five-ten minutes.”


 


All told, Burkart Ford/Mercury replaced 60 400-watt metal halide lamps with 60 224-watt six-tube Illuminator ™ fixtures from Orion. Burkart’s savings and the related environmental benefits are possible because Orion Illuminator ™ fixtures have been engineered to use a specially formed, highly reflective surface to ‘harvest’ light emitted from all sides of a fluorescent tube and direct it downward. As a result, an Illuminator™ fixture typically gives half again as much light at half the operating cost of metal halide lighting or two-thirds the cost of older fluorescents.


 


The Illuminator ™ fixture is used with T8 full-spectrum fluorescent tubes and electronic ballasts. As a result, Orion systems turn on instantly, provide a more natural type of light, and operate at a relatively cool 110 degrees F.


 


The Illuminator ™ fixture has helped Orion Energy Services win several awards, including the 2004 Wisconsin Partners for Clean Air Award, given by the Wisconsin DNR, and the 2002 Wisconsin Manufacturer of the Year Grand Award, given by the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce Association It also helped earn for Orion president Neal Verfuerth the 2004 Ernst & Young Wisconsin manufacturing Entrepreneur of the Year award and a Small Business Times’ Bravo! Entrepreneur award in 2005.


 


“Energy efficiency isn’t a zero-sum thing,” commented Orion president Neal Verfuerth. “We’re all winners here — Burkart Ford because they saved money and energy, Orion because our products were used. But we all benefited, too by the environmental effects of using less power. And the fact that a chunk of power came off the grid also benefits us all because it tends to lessen upward pressure on power prices — and that’s an issue we’re all facing. We congratulate Mike Burkart Ford/Mercury on this many-faceted accomplishment.”


 


Mike Burkart Ford/Mercury has taken great pains to provide for the comfort of walk-in customers, the heart of any auto dealership’s business. When it came to obtaining a newer. Larger facility recently, owner Mike Burkart and partner Tom Beringer sought the expertise of Miller Zell, of Atlanta, Ga., who specializes in automobile facility design and is known throughout the country. Inside and outside of the new facility, lighting is the order of the day. Sunlight and lights warm up the white-tile showroom floor while phone calls are routed through a silent pager system, shielding both customers and employees from the distractions of intercom paging. A customer waiting area is drenched in sunlight at the base of a 20-foot-high glass wall. Amenities include coffee and a 32-inch television with satellite dish, while nearby, another 20-foot-high glass wall towers over a customer workstation, where waiting customers can plug in their laptops. Nearby is a child’s play area to entertain children while their parents shop. All office walls facing the showroom area are glass to allow the business manager, sales managers and Burkart himself to be in touch with the showroom at all times while still allowing for private conversation. Visit the Burkart website at http://www.burkartford.com/


 


Orion Energy Services, Plymouth WI, manufactures and markets energy efficient lighting solutions for the manufacturing, distribution center, warehousing, commercial, school, and gymnasium markets. Orion provides capacity displacement solutions for supply side management, transmission management, and demand side management for the electricity industry. Neal Verfuerth, Orion President, received one of Wisconsin’s most prestigious awards, the Ernst & Young 2004 Manufacturing Entrepreneur of the Year, and Orion has won numerous awards as a company. For more information, visit www.oriones.com.


 


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