"Tropicana is committed to changes which will improve
the quality of the workspace and reduce environmental pollution. Lighting retrofit
offered us an opportunity to do both - and to substantially reduce a fixed operating
cost in the bargain."
Facility Description:The Florida facilities of Tropicana are located in Ft. Pierce and Brandenton. The Ft. Pierce facility is primarily a processing plant. The Bradenton complex is not only the largest processing plant in the state but is also a fully integrated operation; manufacturing glass containers, pallets and cartons. Bradenton also houses Tropicana's corporate adminstration & engineering offices as well as numerous quality control, testing and USDA laboratories. There are a wide variety of fluorescent fixture types and operating hours vary from 24 hours in plant areas to 12 hours per day in the adminstrative sections. Tropicana, in co-operation with Florida Power and Light, cogenerates electricity on site, resulting in exceptionally low power rates. Standard 40 watt cool whites and electro-magnetic ballasts were the norm for all areas addressed. A total of 2000 fixtures were designated for retrofit. |
Goals:Tropicana engineers were well aware of recent studies which linked increased employee productivity to an improved quality of light. They were also aware of the connection between reduced electrical consumption and reduced air pollution. Finally, they were aware of the positive impact on bottomline profits caused by the significant reduction of a fixed cost - such as lighting. The retrofit goal was therefore to maximize each of the above conditions.Constraints:The major constraint was the financial justification, or cost-effectiveness, of such a large scale project. Tropicana, as a division of Seagram's, operates under strict criteria for rate of return on investments. Other constraints included: All components used were to be pre-approved by FPL for inclusion in their incentive/rebate program. All components used would feature factory warranties equal to, or greater than, those they replaced. Harmonic distortion, created by electronic ballasts, had to be the equivalent or less than the ballasts they would replace. Measurable light levels were to meet or exceed IES and OSHA standards for the designated work areas. |
Solutions:850 series T-8 lamps, which have maximum lumens per watt output and optimize visual acuity, were chosen, as were electronic ballasts with less than 17% harmonic distortion for the plant areas (less than 8% for the critical data processing and employee services buildings). The three and four lamp fixtures were all deplamped and reflectorized in order to maximize savings, yet maintain OSHA and IES intensity standards. Exit signs were converted from incandescent sources to LED's in order to maximize both power savings and maintenance savings.Results:Light levels and light quality were increased across the board. Tropicana's lighting system demand was lowered by 215 kw)...a 67% reduction! This, in turn, creates power associated savings of $40,000 annually and additional maintenance savings of $18,500. Factoring in the FPL rebate, the payback for this project for |
this project is less than 18 months.
Annual environmental savings include more than two million lbs. of CO2, SO2 and N2O prevented
from atmospheric pollution. Visual comfort in the work place has increased substantially, as has visual acuity. Tropicana is currently documenting the impact of these factors on employee productivity and are predicting significant increase. Explanation:The nearly 70% decrease in electrical consumption was made possible by a careful application of a systems approach - maximizing potential savings by using all available lighting technologies as appropriate. Given the abnormally low cost of power for Tropicana, the surprisingly short payback period was a funtion of the high percentage of savings achieved as well as the relatively long hours of operation.Contact: Mr. Glenn Johnson Corporate Engineering 1001 13th Avenue East Bradenton, Florida (813) 747-4461 |