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Lighten up!
Illuminating a retail space responsibly is easy - once you sort through the myriad choices, of course.
October 1, 2008
This article originally published in Retail Customer Experience magazine October 2008.Click hereto download a free PDF version.
Office Depot reduced energy consumption in its North American stores by roughly 65 million kilowatt hours in just one year. The reduction was quite a feat, considering the footprint of Office Depot stores also increased by 1.7 million square feet in that year, between 2005 and 2006.According to its environmental strategy adviser, the office-supply store accomplished the reduction in large part by committing to one of the largest energy-efficiency-lighting retrofits in retail history, changing its overheads to T5 energy-efficient lights and installing sensors to automatically turn off lights in empty bathrooms and break rooms.
Changing out bulbs may sound easy, but the incredible range of technology-enhanced choices on the market today complicates matters. Also, in retail, "good lighting" has to be customized to the retail situation.
Good lighting is the element needed to make a space comfortable and safe for shoppers. It spotlights the merchandise and complements the brand's positioning.
And with today's energy costs, saving money quickly is becoming another important function of lighting.
Fifty-nine percent of a store's energy bill is spent on lighting, compared to just 19 percent for heating and cooling, 7 percent for office equipment, 6 percent for ventilation and 9 percent for miscellaneous categories, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Lighting guidelines from the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (iesna.org) recommend that retailers not exceed 1.5 watts per square foot in general lighting, 1.6 watts per square foot for highlighting merchandise, 1 watt per square foot for decorative lighting and 3.9 watts per square foot for fine merchandise, such as lighting at jewelry counters.
With today's energy costs, saving money quickly is becoming another important function of lighting. |
Added up, IESNA's guidelines still come to 8 watts per square foot, which is a tremendous energy output, says
Nick Bleeker, director of development for lighting designer Day-Brite Capri Omega in Tupelo, Miss. Such challenges have produced a wealth of creative, energy-efficient solutions in lighting technology — and an almost overwhelming selection for retailers.
"Retail lighting is one of the most exciting market segments. You can do so much in so many different spaces," he noted. "And just because it's a green approach doesn't mean it will take away from what you're trying to do."
Lighting options
Many warehouse-style stores such as Home Depot have changed out their school-gymnasium-like metal halide lamp fixtures to fluorescents because that move alone can save 40 percent on their energy bills, said David Murphy, chief executive of Connecticut-based energy-management firm EnerLume energy. And such companies are no longer stuck with compact fluorescents that look like compact fluorescents. Manufacturers now can put a lens over the telltale curly bulb to imitate a floodlight or encapsulate it so it fits into wall sconces and other fixtures just like incandescent bulbs.
Day-Brite Capri Omega has introduced a 3-inch-aperture fixture with T5 linear fluorescent lamps. As a result, the design offers a very high lumen output, which requires fewer fixtures and puts lighting where it is needed on the retail floor, Bleeker said. "We came up with that because some designer said, 'Hey, I want to maximize my ceiling space not up but down," he explained.
EnerLume energy's energy-saving secret lies in controlling the juice that goes to the ballast of a T8 or T12 linear fluorescent fixture. Rather than dim the lumen output overall by limiting the ballast's draw, Murphy's technology times the sine waves rushing to the ballast to maximize energy use. Perceived light levels remain the same, but the energy bill goes down by 15 percent, according to third-party research firm Lighting Services Inc. Although he declined to name names, Murphy said several national chains beta-tested the concept in stores this summer.
Here's a look at how three retail owners faced the challenge of lighting ROI.
Qualheim's True Value
Willis Qualheim's objective was straight-forward: He needed to increase the lumens in his True value hardware franchise in Shawano, Wis., and saving energy is always a plus. After all, he has 35,000 square feet of retail space, with 16-foot ceilings throughout that only drop to 14 feet on the outside edges. For the most part, he was looking for even lighting.
Qualheim turned to Manitowoc, Wis.- based Orion energy Systems for advice and wound up changing 500 of his 8-foot very-high-output (VHO) lamps to 4-foot electronic ballasts and CFL
fixtures. The move cost him $55,000 up front, but he immediately slashed his monthly electric bill in half and saw a 45-percent increase in brightness. Three years later, those savings have covered his investment and "now it's just money in the bank," he said. He calculates he is also saving $2,500 a year in maintenance, since his folks rarely are on a ladder replacing burned-out bulbs.
fixtures. The move cost him $55,000 up front, but he immediately slashed his monthly electric bill in half and saw a 45-percent increase in brightness. Three years later, those savings have covered his investment and "now it's just money in the bank," he said. He calculates he is also saving $2,500 a year in maintenance, since his folks rarely are on a ladder replacing burned-out bulbs.Orion's environmental researchers contend that Qualheim's switch means the store is putting 291 fewer tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and 79 fewer tons of carbon on an annual basis. That's the equivalent to planting 46 acres of trees or removing 41 cars from the road each year. Qualheim is so tickled, he's planning to hold seminars in his store to help any other retailers who want information.
"In a retail environment, you have to have lumens or you're not going to make it anymore," Qualheim said. "I'm just a hardware store and it has helped. Don't wait. Get it done yesterday."
The Annapolis Lighting Company
Teri Leisersohn has thousands of lighting fixtures on display at each of The Annapolis Lighting Company's five locations in the Washington, D.C., area — and every one of them has to have some kind of bulb in it to show how it lights for the customer. The combined effect produces so many lumens that the heat they put off triggered the air-conditioning to kick in year-round. The stores' 10,000 square-foot showrooms were so bright in the summer, Leisersohn had to either turn off random displays or stagger the breakers to avoid using every single fixture.
The best thing to be said about the situation was that the product itself eliminated a need to add overhead lighting.
But, "Our electric bill was astronomical. It was imperative that we come up with some alternative," said Leisersohn, Annapolis' assistant vice president. She had tried CFLs in the past, but the color they produced wasn't friendly to retail. "The original designs were solely energy-conscious and boom! That was the edge," she said.
This time around, she learned that manufacturers have improved their color-rendering-index standards, which meant she could switch out the bulbs and still present something consumers would want to have in their homes. In fact, the technology is so good, Annapolis Lighting even uses CFLs in a track-lighting situation to show off an art gallery on one end of the store. It adds a halogen lamp every so often for an accent punch.
The company's electric bill fell by 30 percent, and the space feels a lot cooler since shedding the incandescent bulbs' heat. Annapolis offers to recycle CFLs for customers who question the bulbs' mercury content, and keeps 8-foot long boxes in the back room labeled strictly for handling them.
The change in-store has been so dramatic, Leisersohn can't help but contemplate how to improve other retail situations when she shops. "If [a lighting fixture] doesn't jump out at you, then you're not likely to notice and buy it," she said. "But I see track lighting with one after another 50- or 70- watt halogen bulbs and I think, 'You could save so much money with a fluorescent."
That's not to say the folks at Annapolis Lighting are slaves to the compact fluorescent option. Consumers still will find the occasional halogen or candle bulb in its showrooms. "we are in the business of selling light fixtures," Leisersohn said. "We try to make the product look as attractive as possible with the bulbs that are available, and use the CFLs whenever possible."
Englewood Wine Merchants
David Gettenberg and Andrew Wellisch know how to sell wine. When they set out to open the premier wine shop in Bergen County, New Jersey, they drew up blueprints to turn the existing space into a cellar presentation. They created eight taste stations to showcase wines from different countries on a weekly basis throughout the store.
There was just one problem with the concept: Consumers don't buy what they can't see. And when a space is 15 feet by 60 feet with low, dark ceilings, natural Travertine stone floors, all-walnut cabinetry and darkly colored products displayed, the result is more of a disappearing act than a retail sale. Even at high noon, the sunlight couldn't penetrate those parameters enough to make a difference.
Track lighting would certainly do the trick, and the space came with flood lights installed, so the business partners had the bare bones. But they still lacked the
finesse. "We needed a light that would do its job without becoming a focal point," said Gettenberg. "Those bottles had to pop off the shelf without ruining the ambiance."
finesse. "We needed a light that would do its job without becoming a focal point," said Gettenberg. "Those bottles had to pop off the shelf without ruining the ambiance."They asked Lightolier for advice, and the Fall River, Mass.-based lighting manufacturer recommended a high-intensity white light pinpointed on wine displays and tasting stations. Low-voltage MR16 lamps could provide that brightness and still fit in a small track design - the heads are approximately 2 inches wide by 3 inches deep.
Lightolier's Alcyon line allowed Gettenberg to put the intense light in a small transformer case that hangs from the track on a slim wireless stem to create the illusion the light is floating. Gettenberg chose matte black low voltage cylinder fixtures, the better to blend in with his ceiling. "Camouflage, for lack of a better word," as he described it.
In April 2008, the manufacturer introduced an HID ceramic metal halide track lighting product that delivers the latest miniature lamp and electronic ballast technology in an accent and flood lighting application as well. Gettenberg couldn't be happier with the results of his choice. Since his was a new operation when it opened in May 2005, the partners can't say what their savings have been. They could, however, save even more if they took the current set-up to a dimmer control situation, Gettenburg knows.
"But we're comfortable with what we have right now and have no plans to make changes," he noted. "But don't skimp on your lighting because it is important."
Julie Sturgeon is a freelance writer and regular contributor to Retail Customer Experience magazine.
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