CLEVELAND--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Limited Brands, Inc. (NYSE: LTD) has deployed energy-efficient lighting from GE Consumer & Industrial (NYSE: GE) for a comprehensive lighting retrofit of five distribution centers at its headquarters in Columbus, Ohio. Within the 3.5 million square feet of impacted facilities, the company's lighting energy consumption has been cut by 50 percent. Limited Brands expects annualized energy and maintenance cost savings of approximately $775,000.
Specifically, Limited Brands is expected to achieve $650,000 in energy savings and $125,000 in maintenance savings annually. In addition to enabling significant cost savings, the new lighting dramatically increases light levels, making some areas of the facilities up to four times brighter.
"We're constantly examining new strategies for enhancing the efficiency of our lighting," says Ronald T. Rau, vice president of stores and facilities maintenance. "With this project, and others underway now, we're doing more than just trimming electricity bills. We're contributing to our sustainability initiatives while improving the work environment of our associates."
For the retrofit, Limited Brands used new, more efficient lighting: GE T5 High-Output Starcoat® Ecolux® lamps, TCLP-compliant 2-foot and 3-foot T8 Watt-Miser® lamps (both 28 and 23 watts) and GE UltramaxTM T8 Ballasts. Additionally, the fixtures are equipped with motion sensors, so the lamps are only operating when there is activity in the area.
"Limited Brands has extended its re-lamp cycles with lighting choices such as the new T8 lamps, which offer a 24,000-hour rated life at 12 hours per start," says Mary Beth Gotti, manager of the GE Lighting & Electrical Institute, GE Consumer & Industrial. "That's a great move because the company saves energy while also minimizing disruptions to workflows in busy distribution centers."
New brightness brings limitless benefits
"Associates working in the distribution centers have told us that the brighter lighting makes it easier to perform tasks," notes Rau. "They've reported that the work area feels cleaner and that seeing bar-coded vendor information more clearly seems to be enhancing productivity. Associates have also told us they feel good about the environmental benefit inherent in energy efficient lighting."
Cost-saving calculations for the new lighting were based on an audit of existing equipment, the published input wattages, an agreed upon kWh rate and operating hours of both the before and after lighting products. Cited maintenance savings for the lamp and ballast replacements are based on the published, anticipated failure of the existing system and operating hours.
Limited Brands' lighting retrofit underscores its continued commitment to environmental improvement. The company, a participant in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Climate Leaders program, offers details about its corporate social responsibility initiatives here: http://www.limitedbrands.com/social_responsibility/index.jsp.
Limited Brands, through Victoria's Secret, Pink, Bath & Body Works, C.O. Bigelow, La Senza, White Barn Candle Co. and Henri Bendel, presently operates 3,015 specialty stores. The company's products are also available online at www.VictoriasSecret.com, www.BathandBodyWorks.com, www.HenriBendel.com and www.LaSenza.com.
GE Consumer & Industrial spans the globe as an industry leader in major appliances, lighting and integrated industrial equipment, systems and services. Providing solutions for commercial, industrial and residential use in more than 100 countries, GE Consumer & Industrial uses innovative technologies and ecomaginationSM, a GE initiative to aggressively bring to market new technologies that help customers and consumers meet pressing environmental challenges, to deliver comfort, convenience and electrical protection and control. General Electric (NYSE: GE), imagination at work, sells products under the Monogram®, Profile™, GE®, Hotpoint®, SmartWater™, Reveal® and Energy Smart® consumer brands, and Entellisys®, Tetra®, Vio™ and Immersion® commercial brands. For more information, consumers may visit www.ge.com.
EDITOR'S NOTE: High-resolution before and after photos available at: http://www.geconsumerproducts.com/pressroom/press_releases/lighting/commercial_lighting/Limited_Brands_Retrofit.htm
David Schuellerman
GE Consumer & Industrial
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1-216-266-9702
1-216-513-6236