PNNL

On average, 15–20 percent of the annual electricity consumed by U.S. buildings is for lighting. This represents a huge opportunity for building owners and managers to reduce energy consumption and save money. By replacing less efficient troffers—rectangular lighting fixtures mounted in dropped ceiling grids—with new ones and by adding controls such as dimmers, timers, and occupancy sensors, up to 80 percent of lighting energy can be saved.

The DOE Better Buildings Alliance’s Interior Lighting Campaign(ILC) participants did just that. In 2017, 13 organizations were recognized for their efforts upgrading to efficient troffer lighting and control systems. These partners, along with other ILC participants, have pledged to install or upgrade more than 1.2 million troffer lighting and controls systems, racking up $24 million in savings. On average, participants recognized by the ILC in 2016 and 2017 cut their energy use by 52 percent. If all troffer systems in the country were upgraded to performance levels of that achieved by these recognized participants, a collective $5.3 billion could be saved.

This Year's Awardees Keep Up the ILC Savings Tradition

On June 25, 2017, the ILC awardees were recognized at the BOMA 2017 International Conference & Expo. "The adoption of advanced interior lighting technologies continues to bring U.S. businesses and other organizations significant energy savings," said the Energy Department's Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency, Kathleen Hogan. "By investing in more efficient lighting, ILC partners demonstrate how cost-effective measures can make a big difference in a building's energy consumption."

This year's awardees are being recognized for achieving significant savings by upgrading almost 600,000 troffer lighting systems to high-efficiency systems and saving $13.2 million dollars in the past year. ILC 2017 awardees include:

• Baylor Scott and White Health
• BioStar Lighting
• City of Spencer, Wisconsin
• Cleveland Clinic
• Columbia Association
• Divi Energy
• Grace Bible Church
• The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc.
• Life Time Fitness
• Staples
• Target
• Tutera Real Estate
• U.S. Army Reserve - 88th Regional Support Command

On behalf of the Better Buildings Alliance and in collaboration with the ILC organizers, PNNL developed and continues to manage technical aspects of the ILC. PNNL staff also provided participants with technical assistance and provided resources such as Version 6.0 High Efficiency Lighting Troffer Performance Specification developed by PNNL research staff on behalf of the Better Buildings Alliance.

For more information, visit the ILC website. To learn how past ILC winners achieved their energy savings goals, read the 2016 case studies.