Davis & Warshow, has converted its entire 209,000-sq.-ft. Queens distribution center from fluorescent tubes to LED tube lighting. The company has achieved net-zero lighting costs with LED tubes due to a rooftop solar array installed in 2010 that exceeds the 200,000 annual kWh to power the lighting.
Independence LED, a Pennsylvania-based manufacturer, was the source for the more than two miles worth of LED tubes required for the Davis & Warshow retrofit. Prior to the conversion, lighting equaled nearly 65 percent of the structure’s total power usage, costing almost $50,000 per year. It now has decreased to less than 50 percent of the building’s total energy use and costs less than $20,000 per year to run.
Both the installation of the solar array and the LED conversion are part of Davis & Warshow’s Practically Green program – a small-steps approach to going green that the company inaugurated in 2008.
“Our small steps are adding up to a giant leap in sustainability, and we are proof positive that even small companies like ours can make a difference in reducing their environmental footprint for the better of the planet,” said David Finkel, president, Davis & Warshow.
Pictured: (Left to Right) David Pospisil, program manager of Con Edison’s Commercial & Industrial Energy Efficiency Programs, David Finkel, president of Davis & Warshow and Charlie Szoradi, CEO of Independence LED flips the switch on the LED tube installation at Davis & Warshow’s headquarters.
