It all began with furniture department employees complaining that the fluorescent lighting was not providing proper color rendition, resulting in customer complaints and more product returns. On top of that, a mandate to lower energy costs came down from the vice president. Daryl Meadows, director of West Coast maintenance for Federated Logistics & Operations, knew what he needed to do: find an effective daylighting solution.
Federated Logistics, which coordinates merchandise distribution, logistics functions, and vendor technology for all Federated department store divisions nationwide, installed 800 Solatube® tubular skylights in its East Los Angeles facility. As a result of the natural lighting retrofit, Federated has been able to provide customers with better quality repairs on furniture, resulting in fewer returns and an improvement to the company''s bottom line. The company was so pleased that it decided to install the tubular skylights in more of its 2 million sq ft of logistics space.
"Vendors are shocked to hear that there is not a single electric light on when they come inside our facility," said Meadows. "The Solatubes provide increased lighting with less heat than with fluorescent lighting, and have allowed us to reduce our energy costs. I''m very proud of this."
Tubular skylights from Solatube International Inc, a product originally designed for the home improvement market, have recently become the product of choice in the decidedly "non-homey" environment of logistics facilities.
Since the launch of its SolaMaster® product line in late 2000, Solatube has seen tremendous demand for its compact, modular skylights in all types of commercial buildings, from grocery stores to classrooms. The product has proved to be a particularly good fit for logistics facilities because of its affordable price, quick installation, and short energy payback period. The 21 in. diameter units provide ideal lighting in open production areas as well as between pallet racking aisles, allowing workers better visibility to complete their job functions.
"In warehouse applications, we are seeing installations as quick as 15 minutes per skylight," said Robert Westfall, Solatube''s vice president, sales and marketing. "Because the Solatubes are more compact than traditional box skylights, you don''t need to open up nearly as much of the roof for installation, so you have just 1-2% roof penetration versus 5-10% with box skylights. The quick and easy installation allows for minimal downtime, so companies can instead focus their energy on keeping their businesses moving."
Snack giant Frito Lay Inc recently installed 120 Solatube skylights in the manufacturing and warehouse areas of its Visalia, CA, facility.
"The units have been a big hit," said Mark Giltmier, maintenance manager for Frito Lay. "We have been able to turn off roughly 70% of the ambient lighting fixtures during the daytime, which coincides with the peak demand periods as assessed by the electric utility. Even on overcast and foggy days, there is still enough light available, which allows us to turn off 50% of the lighting fixtures. We will soon be automating the lights in areas served by the Solatubes via an energy management system, which will optimize our savings."
Target Corp has also turned to Solatube to provide more energy-efficient operations for its 1.6 million sq ft distribution facility in Shafter, CA. More than 330 units were installed in the facility''s shipping and receiving department, with more units planned for a second facility underway in Rialto, CA.
"The number one energy expense for logistics facilities is lighting," said Westfall. "By providing a natural lighting alternative during peak daylight hours, we allow companies to keep their overhead expenses in check. This can boost profitability and, in turn, give them a competitive advantage."
Aqua Lung, a manufacturer of scuba diving and snorkeling equipment headquartered in Vista, CA, noticed an immediate 33% reduction in site-wide electricity consumption after it installed almost 200 Solatube skylights in its facility.
"We selected Solatube because the product quality and pricing were right," said Paul Claybagh, facilities manager for Aqua Lung. "It is certainly an effective product for lighting manufacturing facilities and it will pay for itself over a short period of time. Plus, the employees respond positively to the natural light."
Daylighting: A Boost to Business
Daylighting has been linked to all kinds of benefits that extend well beyond saving energy, including boosting employee productivity and morale, reducing absenteeism, aiding employee retention, reducing on-the-job errors and accidents, and lowering workers'' compensation claims. All of these factors contribute to a more profitable business. Consider these examples:
- Compaq Computers used daylighting to boost worker productivity by 55% in just one year.
- Lockheed Martin reports that daylighting its facility achieved 15% higher worker productivity, helping the company win a $1.5 billion defense contract, profits from which paid for the entire building.
- VeriFone, a subsidiary of Hewlett-Packard, reported that after daylighting its facility, the company saw absenteeism drop 40-45%, worker productivity increase 5%, and energy bills drop 50%, for an overall payback time of under one year.
- Workers in one Boeing facility stated that natural light improved their ability to detect imperfections in jet panels during assembly by 20%. The savings associated with this ability to catch errors actually exceeded the building''s annual energy savings, which was 90%.
Sorrento Electronics, a manufacturer of microprocessor/PC-based control and information handling systems, installed 75 of the 21in. Solatube units in the high-bay manufacturing and warehouse areas of its San Diego headquarters. The Solatubes were installed in the 35,000 sq ft area with virtually no interruptions to the work going on in the facility. The skylights were able to displace 51 high-pressure sodium fixtures for an annual average of 8 hours per day. Based on the operating hours of the building, the Solatubes, combined with a photo-control system, provide a 69% reduction in annual electric lighting consumption. The simple payback for the entire project was calculated at 3.2 years.
"After considerable investigation into tubular skylights, I determined that Solatube was clearly the superior product. It gave out more and brighter light," said Bill Steed, facilities manager for Sorrento Electronics. "I receive positive comments about them all the time from employees, visitors and customers. Our high-bay area was generally dark before, even with the lights on. Now, it is never dark, even with the lights off. The installation was great -- no mess, no fuss, and without interruptions to our work."
Mandated Daylighting
Building codes that require more extensive use of natural lighting as an energy-saving measure are accelerating the trend toward daylighting. New revisions to California''s energy code include more stringent daylighting requirements for construction of low-rise, non-residential buildings: structures over 25,000 sq ft, with ceiling heights above 15 ft, must have 50% of the floor space illuminated by daylight.
"The new mandate will have a significant impact on logistics facilities in California," said Westfall. "Because Title 24 tends to set the standard for other states to follow, we will likely soon see similar requirements in other parts of the country. Daylighting is not just a passing trend, but rather one that is quickly becoming the norm in lighting design for these types of facilities."