FLORIDA GREEN BUILDING MAGAZINE 25

A Future Lit by LEDs

New technologies make LEDs a practical,
energy-saving choice for many lighting applications
BY CHARLIE LAWSON
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LED lighting technologies are getting a lot of attention these days, as green building comes
of age and people look for ways to save energy. It makes sense to focus on lighting, since
it accounts for between 25 to 40 percent of total energy use in commercial buildings.
However, LEDs rise to fame has been so rapid that many in the building industry are still
unfamiliar with them, and even if they are familiar with them, they may still wonder if
LED lighting is practical and aordable for their project. These days, because of the rapid
improvements and decreasing costs of LED technologies, the answer is often yes.
What is LED Lighting?
LEDlighting is a type of solid-state light-
ing (SSL) that uses light-emitting diodes
(LEDs) as sources of illumination rather
than electrical laments, plasma, or gas.
LEDs present many advantages over tradi-
tional light sources. The highest-ecacy
LEDs today produce about 50 lumens per
watt, more than twice the output of incan-
descent and halogen lamps. Although
uorescent lamps have higher output than
todays LEDs, the ability to more precisely
focus LED light output can enable LED
luminaires to outperform uorescents in
certainapplications. LEDs also have a very
long life (30,000 to 50,000 hours) andare
the only common non-incandescent light
source that does not rely onmercury vapor.
LEDs typically use 80 percent less
energy than incandescent and 30 percent
less energy than CFLs. They also can be
dimmed more cost eectively by varying
the current. Inaddition, the typically small
mass of a solid-state electronic lighting
device provides for greater resistance
to shock and vibration compared to brittle
glass tubes or bulbs and long, thin
lament wires.
LEDs Potential
for Indoor Applications
In a September 2008 report, The U.S.
Department of Energy (DOE) SSLDivision
analyzed LED savings in niche markets
where LEDs compete or are poised to
compete with traditional lighting sources
(e.g., incandescent anduorescent). Some
of these markets include down lighting,
retail display lighting, under cabinet
lighting, and track lighting. In all of the
applications listed, LEDs performed as
well or better than current technology,
including CFL bulbs. According to the
report, the highest energy savings would
occur when LED down lighting com-
pletely replaces current down lighting.
Down Lighting.
LED down lights now outperform their
competitors, sometimes where color
quality is concerned, sometimes in their
lifespan or eciency, and other times
they lead the way in all three areas.
Retail Display Lighting.
During the past ve years, technical
advances inwhiteLEDs haveenabledLED-
refrigerated-display-case-lighting systems
to oer energy savings when replacing
uorescent systems, and now prove to be
a much more ecient way to light refrig-
eration areas. The superior color temper-
ature of these LED products and their
ability to withstand colder environments
will surely expedite their dominance of
this market.
The most commonlight source for retail
display lighting is linear uorescent track
lighting to provide accent or display case
lighting, followed by halogen or incan-
descent spotlights to provide high-
brightness focal-point lighting. Carefully
designed LED systems can be viable
alternatives to all three of these conven-
tional lighting systems.
One strategy is to replace high power
LOREM IPSUM DOLOR 1. Color Kinetics Name of Light; 2. Beta LEDLight; 3. eWProle Undercabinet
Lights; 4. Color Kinetics eWblast Flood Lights; 5. Albeotech Cove Lights; 6. Traditional HPS Area Lights;
7. Betaled Area Lights; 8. Ledtronics Flood Lights; 9. Phillips Down Light
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26 FALL 2009
FLORIDA GREEN BUILDING
MAGAZINE 27 Fl ori daGreenBui l di ng. org
white incandescent or halogen spotlights
with colored LEDs for feature displays to
drawthe customers attention. Controlled
experiments in retail stores have shown
anincrease inpositive consumer emotions
and greater handling of products lighted
under colored LED lighting. Another
strategy is to replace high wattage incan-
descent, halogen, and even CFL reector
lamps with LED reector lamps. LED
reector lamps, unlikeCFLreector lamps,
canserve for bothdirectional and ambient
lighting applications.
Ecient linear LED xtures are also
available to replace magnetic T12 linear
uorescent track lighting systems less
than four feet in length and magnetic U-
bent T12 uorescent systems with low
xture eciencies.
Task Lighting.
In the last ve years, LED task lighting
products have been introduced on the
market as replacements to inecient
incandescent, halogen, and T12 and cir-
cline uorescent task lights used in the
commercial, industrial, and residential
sectors. In 2007, DOEestimated that LED
task lights have the potential to save
13 terrawatts/year if the entire market
shifted to LEDtechnology. This amounts
to the annual consumption of two large
(1,000 MW) coal power plants or the
annual electricity consumption of one
million U.S. households.
Outdoor LED Applications
Outdoor white lighting applications have
become the most widely adopted uses for
LED. The energy savings and decreased
maintenance needs are more apparent
in these applications, and the quality of
light in parking areas and garages has led
to widespread adoption of the technology.
However, a very large share of the
marketplace still remains openfor retrot.
As with indoor white lighting applica-
tions, the higher initial cost keeps a lot of
customers tied to conventional lighting.
Although several cities have begun to
adopt LEDstreet andarea lights, the num-
ber of LED streetlights these cities have
installed amounts to less than one-tenth
of one percent of the total installed base
of streetlights in the United States.
A similar promising niche application
for LEDs is residential step, path, and
porch lighting. Several manufacturers
have created specialized products for this
application, with some designs winning
the annual Lighting for Tomorrowprizes
for innovative and energy-ecient LED
product designs. LEDproducts are bene-
cial in this application because they
provide enhanced nighttime visibility,
longer lifetimes, and energy savings
LED LIGHTS SAVE FLORIDA
DEVELOPMENT THOUSANDS
OF DOLLARS
Asouthern Florida residential development
will save $9,000a year thanks toits decision
to light its landscape with LEDs. Jacaranda
Lakes, a community of 1,200middle-upper-
class homes in the Ft. Lauderdale suburb
of Plantation, recently commissioned a
specialty landscape-lighting contract rm,
to create a lighting plan for six entrances,
as well as the developments park.
The lighting rmknew that lighting the
expansive entrances would require
hundreds of accent lights. With soaring
electricity costs, lighting of this scope
would translate to signicant electricity
bills. In addition, the neighborhood associa-
tion pays a maintenance fee every time a
bulb burns out and needs to be replaced.
With hundreds of lights, maintenance
costs quickly pile up.
To circumvent electricity and maintenance
fees, contractors suggested LED lighting
that emitted the warm, white light home-
owners and the association had come to
expect fromtheir developments lighting.
Plus, these lights use 75 percent less elec-
tricity than typical incandescent lighting
with an average life span of 20 yearsnot
only saving on electricity costs, but elimi-
nating the need to change bulbs.
The neighborhood association estimates
that opting for LEDinstead of incandescent
or halogen lighting will save Jacaranda Lakes
$9,000 a year. This includes a dramatic
drop in maintenance costs, a decrease in
bulb/xture damage and signicant energy
savings. Over the 20-year lifespan of the
lighting, the development should see a
savings of $180,000.
In addition, the association was so happy
with the lighting results that they had the
rmtake out existing lighting froma previ-
ously lit entrance and replace all the lighting
with LED products.
We love howall of the entrances look, were
amazedby the energy savings, andwe know
the lighting is going to attract potential
buyers and protect the value of our devel-
opments homes, said Joe Kay, Jacaranda
Lakes property manager. I would recom-
mend LEDs to any development and home-
owner. You may pay a little more for the
initial xtures, but youll see dramatic cost
savings over time.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW BEFORE YOU INVEST IN LEDs
Ask the manufacturer or lighting consulting company you are working with the following
questions before you purchase an LED lighting product.
Does the product have an lM photometrc test report froman ndependent |aboratory to
back up performance c|ams If so s the report for the specc corre|ated co|or temperature
CCTIamnterested n
LM-79-08 is the test procedure developed by the Illuminating Engineering Society of North
America (IES) for measuring electrical and photometric characteristics of SSL sources, and is
the easiest and most reliable way of comparing products. Conscientious manufacturers will
have tested their luminaires to this procedure and should be willing to provide the information.
Knowing whether a product was tested at a particular CCT is important, because LEDperfor-
mance tends to vary signicantly with spectral output.
DoyouhavelM|umenmantenancetestngdataorat|eastdocumentatonofthe
measured lD[uncton temperature nsde the |umnare a|ong wth the lDmanufacturers
temperaturedependent |umenmantenancenformaton
The expected life of LED luminaires is usually tied to projections of lumen maintenance at
various operating temperatures. Lifetime claims of 50,000 to 100,000 hours are common, but
most products have been on the market less than a year and are undergoing almost continual
LED and other design upgrades, so it will likely be some time before their actual lifetimes can
be reliably predicted. In the meantime, IES has developed the LM-80-08 test procedure for
producing the data needed to project LEDlumen maintenance. Because the procedure was only
nalized in September 2008, many products wont have LM-80-08 data available yet, but
conscientious luminaire manufacturers will at least have measured the steady-state operating
temperature of the LEDs in situ to conrmtheyre operating at or belowthe LEDmanufacturers
maximumrecommended level.
What aretheterms of theproduct warranty
One indication of howcondent manufacturers are about their lifetime data is howwilling they
are to back it up with a warranty. Compare warranty terms and conditions. They vary widely.
Canyouprovdethe8UCratngfor your |umnare
BUG stands for backlight-uplight-glare, and is used by IES in place of the outdated cuto
BUILDING BLOCKS 1. at Oberley selected insulated concrete block because it was lowmaintenance, re and
hurricane reistant, and oered R-30 insulation ecienc istant, and ostant, and oered R-30 insulation
when replacing incandescent or halogen
outdoor lighting, especially the more
high powered landscape lighting.
Other outdoor applications will soon
follow, especially applications in which
the brightness of LED lighting increases
both consumer and employee safety and
achieves considerable maintenance and
energy savings, such as lighting for haz-
ardous areas in the industrial eld and
places like correctional facilities.
How Many Dollars Does it
Cost to Change a Light Bulb?
When looking at the true cost of imple-
menting LED lighting, we must consider
not only the initial installation cost, but
the maintenance scenario over the next 15
to 20 years, depending on hours of usage
and expected lifetime of the particular
LEDxture. We must compare these num-
bers to the initial cost of metal halide or
HPS bulbs, as well as the hours it takes to
change the bulbs at the end of their life-
time, how much a man or snorkel lift will
cost for the day, and lost revenue if trac
needs to be divertedor parking shut down.
And, we look at those costs each time one
of those bulbs reaches the end of its life.
Now we start to see a return on invest-
ment (ROI) that shifts from the 10-year
mark down to between two and ve years
in some cases.
Recently, a DOEGateway analysis of an
LED-lit parking lot at Raleys supermar-
ket in West Sacramento, Calif., found a
70 percent energy savings with LEDover
the usual metal halide solution. Another
benet of LED technology played a large
role inthat savings. The xtures are instant
on/o and dimmable. Sensors were
installed that switched the LED xtures
to half power when the parking lot was
unoccupied. In this case, the LED lights
showed an ROI of less than ve years.
When examining the cost for indoor
LEDlighting, we have to factor in the cost
of cooling an indoor space and howlight-
ing aects indoor temperatures. We dont
leave maintenance completely out of the
mix for hard-to-reach bay or ceiling
BIM contributes to high-performance, sustainable green buildings
in many ways, as the model created with BIM greatly reduces the ambiguity
xtures and display xtures that are in
precarious positions; however, the heat
emitted from indoor uorescent, incan-
descent, metal halide, and HPS lighting
xtures have a major impact on the BTUs
it takes to cool a building. In most of the
cost comparisons betweenLEDand tradi-
tional indoor lighting systems, when we
take intoaccount energy savings andmain-
tenance costs, once again we are looking
at an ROI of less than ve years.
We will most likely not see a single
point in time where the general public
begins a mass exodus to LEDlighting, but
rather a series of applications that start to
switchover. The switchhas already started
in area, street, and parking lot lighting.
The next big push seems to be in down
lighting and under cabinet applications.
DOE and the Illuminating Engineering
Society are putting considerable eort
into solid-state-lighting technology and
making sure that the industry is aware of
the current limitations and when a partic-
ular product is ready for widespread use.
In the meantime, LED lighting is pro-
ving itself to be aordable, if you take a
comprehensive look at what the true
cost of light really is.
CHARLIE LAWSON
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NEED PHOTO
classications to indicate the dierent vertical zones of the entire sphere around the luminaire.
BUG ratings indicate a products eectiveness in directing light only where its wanted. Data
should be provided on the amount of lumens emitted in each zone.
Its important to compare the information above for any LEDluminaire being considered along-
side that of the incumbent product to ensure a satisfactory result fromthe planned replace-
ment. Usually this is done via computer simulation using software such as AGI32, Photometric
Toolbox, Visual, or Radiance.
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