LED Retrofits-Examples of Companies Saving $ Money $

Red Robin Slices Energy Costs with LED Retrofits
	Mar 30, 2011	GreenBiz
	Three years ago, lighting manufacturer Eco-story supplied corporate Red Robin restaurants with 10,000 LED lamps, enabling the company to save $600,000 in electricity costs a year. This past February, the Ansara Restaurant Group Inc., a Red Robin franchisee, worked with Eco-story to install 3,500 LED lamps in its 22 restaurants and now expects to save more than $117,000 a year, said Eco-story co-founder Bill Stauffer. The project is an example of how companies of all sizes can save energy costs with lighting retrofits -- an idea that's dawning on more Americans every year. The concept has caught on in the residential sector as well, as a study released today by EcoAlign on the adoption of energy efficient lighting shows. Increasing efficiency and reducing utility bills with greener lighting is something small businesses and consumers as well as large companies can do, said EcoAlign CEO Jamie Wimberly, expanding on findings of his firm's latest EcoPinion study. And in a retail space, regardless of size, "the whole experience is about lighting," Wimberly said. Stauffer, whose firm's target market is retail stores, restaurants and hotels, would agree. Typically, a casual dining restaurant spends $5,000 to $6,000 a month on electricity for lighting. "What we've tried to convince small businesses is (to) think about what they spend a year on electricity for lighting, and if they could cut that by 90 percent, think about what a competitive advantage that could give," Stauffer said. "Small businesses shouldn't think there's nothing they can do." The return on investment for lighting retrofits can be swift. Stauffer said his company strives for payback periods of less than a year. The projected ROI for Ansara, a family-owned based in Farmington Hills, Mich., is 10 months, he said. The majority of Ansara's Red Robins will receive rebates from their utility companies, and the rebates for more than half the stores receiving them will cover 50 percent of lamp and installation costs, Stauffer added. The LED par 20, par 30 and par 38 lamps installed in Ansara's restaurants -- and in some instances for exterior applications -- are expected to save more than 1 million kilowatt hours of electricity a year, Eco-story estimates. "We worked closely with Ansara to ensure they had a customized product that fit their need for high quality light and also offered energy savings," Stauffer said. Founded in Portland, Maine, in 2007, Eco-story's clients include Timberland. In 2009, the outdoor footwear and apparel retailer chose Eco-story for a customized retrofit of track lighting in 50 stores. Within 10 months of the installation, Timberland had saved $100,000 in electricity costs, according to Eco-story. Timberland CEO Jeff Swartz talked about his company's sustainability strategies at GreenBiz Group's recent State of Green Business Forum in Washington, D.C.

Obama links economic growth to energy independence

Obama says shifting the country away from imported oil and toward cleaner forms of energy will help continue a trend that has led to 1.8 million new jobs in the past 13 months.
	Apr 2, 2011	Associated Press Online
	DARLENE SUPERVILLE WASHINGTON, Apr. 2, 2011 (AP Online delivered by Newstex) -- WASHINGTON (AP) —  Obama used his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday to promote his ideas for bringing down gasoline prices by decreasing U.S. dependence on foreign oil. A blueprint he outlined in a speech this week calls for increasing domestic oil exploration and production, making cars and trucks more energy efficient and building vehicles that run on alternative fuels or electricity. Noting that the U.S. doesn't have enough oil reserves to meet its needs, he set a goal of reducing imports by one-third by 2025. "By doing so, we're going to make our economy less vulnerable to wild swings in oil prices," Obama said. "We're going to use cleaner sources of energy that don't imperil our climate. And we're going to spark new products and businesses all over the country by tapping America's greatest renewable resource: our ingenuity." The address was Obama's third this week on energy independence. Next Wednesday, he plans to visit Gamesa Technology Corp., a Philadelphia-area maker of wind turbines, for a town-hall discussion with workers about building a clean energy economy. Oil prices have been rising because of growing demand in China and continued instability in some oil-producing countries in the Middle East. That, in turn, has pushed gasoline prices to new highs. The national average for a gallon of gas hit $3.619 on Friday, the highest price ever for this time of year, according to AAA and other sources. Prices have climbed 23.2 cents in the past month and more than 81 cents in the past year. Obama said sparking new products and businesses during a transition away from imported oil will help create jobs. He spoke a day after the government reported that 230,000 private sector jobs were created in March, bringing the number of jobs created in the past 13 months to 1.8 million. The national unemployment rate also dipped to a two-year low of 8.8 percent last month. "That's a good sign," Obama said in the address. He recorded it during a visit Friday to a UPS (NYSE:UPS) shipping facility in suburban Maryland, where he examined all-electric and hybrid vehicles used by AT&T (NYSE:SBT) (NYSE:T) , Verizon (NYSE:VZ) , PepsiCo (NYSE:PEP) and other companies. "But we have to keep up the momentum, and transitioning to a clean energy economy will help us do that," he said. House Speaker John Boehner focused the weekly Republican message on steps he said the government must take to encourage small businesses to create jobs. Among those steps are continuing to cut spending, blocking tax increases, reducing the bureaucracy and eliminating regulations. Boehner once owned a small plastics and packaging business in Ohio. Boehner said Congress also needs to pass a bill funding the government through Sept. 30, when the budget year ends, and avoid a shutdown. The government's authority to spend money is set to expire next Friday. "Washington's inability to get spending under control is creating uncertainty for our job creators," Boehner said. "It's discouraging investment in small businesses and eroding confidence in our economy. To put it simply, the spending binge in Washington is holding our country back and keeping our economy from creating jobs." ____ Online: Obama address: www.whitehouse.gov GOP address: www.gop.gov Newstex ID: AP-0001-102288637

ExxonMobil stresses on ‘energy efficiency’
Apr 3, 2011 Gulf News

ExxonMobil Qatar continued its sponsorship of the annual Qatar Petroleum Environment Fair 2011, which was held under the patronage of HE Dr Mohamed Saleh al-Sada, Minister of Energy and Industry at the Doha Exhibition Centre.

The objective of the fair was to create environmental awareness among employees working in the energy and industry with a special focus on young children, which in turn will have a positive effect for the whole community. Every year the event convenes a large number of companies from Qatar under a common theme and the theme for 2011 was, “Joining Hands for Environmental Protection”.

“As we take on the growing energy demands, we are also committed to safeguarding the environment. We are pleased to partner with Qatar Petroleum in creating a platform where companies can interact with young children and advise them on how best they can contribute to preserve the environment. The young generation must understand that energy is a limited resource and while Qatar is blessed with abundance, it is not to be taken for granted,” said Alex Dodds, president and general manager of ExxonMobil Qatar Inc.

As part of its support, ExxonMobil had a stand at the event, themed, “Energy Efficiency”. The stand was designed particularly to invite young children to come and learn more about conserving energy. During the fair, young visitors got activity books and colouring books with similar themes, as well.

“It is important for the younger generation to take up ownership and responsibility for the environment at an early age. Children can do these through very simple steps that can be a part of their daily routine. This could be as simple as turning off the lights when not in use or switching off the main power outlet for electronic devices on standby” added Adam Cantu, Safety, Security, Health and Environment Manager of ExxonMobil Qatar Inc.

The Effort to Restore Prop C Continues - MCE March Digest

Donate Now Follow us on:   Upcoming Events   4/10 - MCE Annual Meeting   MCE Monthly Digest   Once a month, MCE sends a brief update on the work of each of our program areas. If you'd like to receive a program's more frequent updates, click the "update profile" link at the bottom of this email.   Clean Energy Program Renew Missouri works to advance renewable energy and energy efficiency in Missouri.    The Effort to Restore Prop C Continues . After many hours of hard work by the Renew Missouri team, there is nearly consensus on HB 613 that will ensure that renewable electricity withinfor Prop C - the MO RES should be "sold to Missouri" and not come solely from renewable energy credits.    Unfortunately, the fight isn't over. We continue to provide input and seek consensus to move the bill forward.  Right now, we're working to prevent rollbacks on the amount of renewable energy required under Prop C.  We anticipate that HB 613 will be voted out of committee next week.  Stay tuned - we'll need your help when the bill moves to the House floor.     Thank you to Conservation Lobby Day participants who provided expert information to more than 100 state legislators on green building, renewable energy, state parks, and clean water. For pictures of this successful event, click here.   PACE Webinars Available.  In March, Renew Missouri held two PACE webinars on a newly developed Missouri PACE Best Practices to help cities and counties learn how they can pursue PACE in Missouri. View the webinar.    Clean Water Program  The MCE Water Program works to promote Missouri's water quality, preserve and restore floodplains and wetlands, and advocate for sustainable stormwater management. Effort to Improve Clean Water Permit Fees. At the 2011 Conservation Lobby Day, the MCE Clean Water Team led the efforts to persuade state legislators to support an increase in Water Permit Fees. Learn more.   Unconstitutional Surety Bond Proposed by Senator Brad Lager. Senate Bill 423, which is one of three bills in the State Legislature designed to reinstate permit fees at stagnant 2000 levels, also includes a very troubling provision known as a surety bond requirement for permit appeals. The bill would require anyone challenging permits for projects that threaten their land, air, or water - like a casino in the floodplain near a conservation area or a coal ash landfill - to first post a bond for any theoretical lost business revenue or legal costs of the project's promoter. This could add up to millions and be an insurmountable hurdle for people with legitimate environmental concerns.  Contact the following Senators in the to tell them this is entirely unacceptable.      Brad Lager, 12th, Chairman     John Lamping, 24th, Vice-Chairman  Mike Kehoe, 6th  Jim Lembke, 1st  Mike Parson, 28th  Kurt Schaefer, 19th  Bill Stouffer, 21st  Tim Green, 13th  Jolie Justus, 10th

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