For further Information contact:
Dave Cary, Communication Specialist
Orion Energy Systems Inc
(920) 892-5804
dcary@oriones.com
Dennis Bauer, vice president, exterior operations
Poblocki & Sons Sign Company
922 S. 70th St.
Milwaukee WI 53214
(414) 453-4210
dmb@poblocki.com
A 49 percent reduction in the amount of power it uses for its own lighting has earned for Poblocki Sign Co. of Milwaukee, Orion’s Environmental Stewardship Award.
All told, Poblocki replaced some 465 High-Intensity Discharge (HID) and conventional fluorescent fixtures with T8 fluorescent technology from Orion. Many of the 465 replacements were Orion’s unique RRK retrofit kit, which utilizes existing fluorescent lamp fixture boxes and saves considerable installation time.
As a result, the amount of power Poblocki uses for its own lighting fell from 622,923 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year to 313,963, a 308,860 kWh reduction of 49 percent. Energy costs fell correspondingly.
So how does this benefit the environment? Power reduced does not have to be generated at all, and certain pollutant by-products of power generation along with it.
Poblocki’s 308,860 kWh reduction, according to US EPA formulas, means that each year 300 tons of carbon dioxide, 82 tons of carbon, 1.3 tons of sulfur dioxide and six-tenths tons of nitrogen oxides — pollutant by-products of electric power generation — will not enter the atmosphere.
Stated another way, the reduction is the air-scrubbing equivalent of a 57-acre forest or taking 50 cars off the road, and the conservation equivalent of saving 25,431 gallons of gasoline each year — over one-half million over the 20 year expected lifetime of the fixtures.
“We appreciate the award because we are an environmentally conscious company,’ said Poblocki vice-president of exterior operations Dennis Bauer. “We try to make the changes we have to make to improve our business come about in an environmentally friendly manner.”
Bauer said Poblocki had known about Orion for years, for a very good reason. “Orion’s president, Neal Verfuerth, worked for me years ago, so I knew about their lighting. When we were looking at our energy usage and contemplating a change in lighting, I had our maintenance manager contact Orion and set something up. We liked what we saw and went ahead with it.”
“It’s an excellent product, our employees like it and we’ve been absolutely satisfied,” Bauer continued. “In fact, I’ve recommended Orion to several friends who have similar positions with other companies. Anybody I meet who has a new building project or retrofit I’ve been telling about it.”
“Of course I’m glad that our products have helped out an old friend’s company,”
commented Orion president Neal Verfuerth. “But we’ve worked hard over the years to develop products that save energy and money, while helping the environment a bit and at the same time provide better and stronger light, so it’s not exactly a surprise to us.”
“The best part was that to get all this, Poblocki didn’t have to do without or give up anything. That’s the way we like to see things work.”
Poblocki Sign Company, LLC, a manufacturer of exterior and interior signage since 1932, is a leader in the architectural sign industry and one of the largest custom sign fabricators in the United States. Located in a 110,000 square foot, state-of-the-art facility in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Poblocki Sign Company is a full-service designer, manufacturer and installer of custom exterior and interior sign systems for the healthcare, educational, retail and corporate markets. Poblocki & Son’s customer base includes such clients as Target, Dayton Hudson, Miller Brewing Company, Disney, Midwest Express, Rockwell, Marshfield Clinics, and United Parcel Service, in addition to school districts, sports facilities, libraries, museums and medical centers throughout the United States.
Poblocki has done extensive display-case work for numerous clients as well. Visit the Poblocki website at http://www.poblocki.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.
Orion provides capacity displacement solutions for supply-side management, transmission management, and demand side management for the electricity industry. Neal Verfuerth, Orion President, recently received one of Wisconsin’s most prestigious awards, the Ernst & Young 2004 Manufacturing Entrepreneur of the Year. Visit the Orion website at http://www.oriones.com/.
