Marriott Headquarters’ LED Retrofit to Save $120,000 Annually, Deliver 2-Year ROI

We love seeing positive stories on investments in saving energy and great ROI's.  Here's one from Environmental Leader on a  nice effort by GE and Marriott Hotels:

"GE Lighting LED retrofits at Marriott International’s headquarters in Bethesda, Md., will reduce electricity use by 860,000 kWh, or 66 percent, and save more than $120,000 in annual combined energy and maintenance costs, GE Lighting said.

The anticipated payback period for the lighting project is slightly more than two years. GE estimates energy expense savings at $104,000 per year, and maintenance mitigation at another $210,000 savings over the decade. Marriott also will receive more than $130,000 in utility rebates and EPACT savings.

Marriott chose GE’s high-efficiency Evolve LED lighting systems to replace traditional 400- to 1,000-watt high-intensity discharge systems for the headquarters’ two million square feet of parking and garage space. Outdoor lots were fitted with 230 Evolve LED Area Lights, while the parking deck was fitted with 400 Evolve LED Garage Light fixtures and several Evolve LED Tunnel Light installations.

Marriott also gained the functionality to dim its new garage lighting with GE’s lighting control system with motion sensors. The occupancy sensor will produce nearly $11,000 in energy savings and an 88,000 kWh reduction each year, GE says.

Inside the 900,000-square-foot headquarters, GE replaced 1,000 65-watt bulbs with 7-watt LED PAR20 lamps in all hallways. The 58-watt difference will mean a 150,000 kWh savings in electricity over 261 working days..."]

We'd also like to see Marriott, and other hotel chains, do a much better job of recycling.  When we stay at hotels, which is frequent, most times we carry recyclable materials to airports, or other locations, or they'd get tossed by the hotel in the garbage.

Also, thanks to Barbara Seely for her comments on this weekend's show.  We want to hear from you, too, good or bad.