driving down costsGELighting

GE Evolve™ LED Area Light fixtures decelerate energy costs for Lexus of South Atlanta

Vehicle colors are better represented and annual energy costs have declined $49,000 THE SITUATION

When the new owners of Lexus of South Atlanta assumed operations in July 2011, they quickly pinpointed one thing they’d like to change: the outdoor lighting. A year later, with new GE Evolve™ LED Area Lights shining brightly on its lot, the dealership has also seen a change in annual energy costs — a savings totaling $49,000.

“The effectiveness of our old lighting was adequate at best , and once we received the first utility bill, we realized the fixtures were very inefficient , and our electricity costs were excessive. Our parent company, the Sumitomo Corporation, feels very strongly about environmentally sensitive operations, and it was clear to us that we needed to make a change.” -Sid Barron, general manager of Lexus of South Atlanta Interested in learning more about cost-effective lighting options, Lexus of South Atlanta contacted Georgia Power Company, the dealership’s electrical utility partner. After performing a comprehensive site analysis including efficiency studies, bill audits and equipment comparisons, Georgia Power suggested installation of 82 GE Evolve™ LED Area Lights on 55 poles. The lamps were distributed to optimize lighting levels for the facility using existing poles.

THE SOLUTION

Lexus of South Atlanta agreed to invest in the new LED lighting. The entire system was installed by December 2011. Even before installation was complete, customers and employees were already seeing a difference.

• $49,000 in annual energy savings

• 518,871 kilowatt hours (kWhs) reduced in electricity use

More than 799,000 pounds of CO2 emissions eliminated annually:= 99 new acres of trees= 170 ton reduction of coal burning annually

O P E R AT I N G I M PA C T

E N V I R O N M E N TA L I M PA C T

retail

The new installation utilizes 82 GE Evolve™ LED Area Lights on 55 poles, reducing energy consumption by 87%.

Though the new LED system uses fewer watts, light quality and uniformity is greatly improved and the cars look more attractive.

THE SOLUTION CONTINUED. . .

“With a car dealership, your facility is essentially your drive-by billboard at night. Piquing people’s interest depends upon displaying your millions of dollars of inventory well, and since we are located on one of the most traveled roads in South Atlanta, lighting makes a huge difference. We now have much broader and more uniform lighting coverage of our lots, which is helpful from an inventory security standpoint and a display standpoint.” -Sid Barron

Aesthetics weren’t the only noticeable difference, either. Whereas the old HID system consumed 596,160 kWhs of electricity, the new GE Evolve™ LED system uses a total of 77,289 kWhs—a decrease in electricity consumption by more than 87 percent. This means $49,000 in annual savings for the dealership.

“We were skeptical of the LED lighting at first because the energy savings seemed ‘too good to be true.’ Once we saw the high quality of the lighting we were receiving for a fraction of the operating cost, we were very interested. Because of the results we’ve seen, we are now looking into using GE LED fixtures inside our showroom.” -Tom Palmer, platform manager at Lexus of South Atlanta

For more information on the GE Lighting products used in this project, visit gelighting.com or gelightingsolutions.com.

© GE 2012 69755 11/2012