by Shane Henson — February 29, 2012—With the expertise and assistance of Piedmont Service Group, the M.J. Soffe Company, a manufacturer of active apparel for teens and young adults, has embarked on an aggressive energy efficiency project at its Fayetteville, North Carolina headquarters that should reduce its lighting costs by 65 percent and cut its overall electricity costs by almost 20 percent.
The company partnered with Piedmont Service Group, a North Carolina-based facilities services and energy efficiency company, to lower its utility costs by retrofitting its warehouse and other buildings with new energy-efficient lighting technology.
According to both companies, Piedmont will upgrade 2,500 lighting fixtures at the Soffe campus during the next four months. The new fixtures include the addition of LED (light-emitting diode) lights in conference rooms and a complete overhaul of the warehouse lighting, including occupancy sensors that allow lights to be turned off when distribution and warehouse spaces are unoccupied. Piedmont identified tax credits available through the Energy Policy Act of 2005 that may help offset the cost of the project for Soffe.
The new fixtures offer many other benefits, which facilities managers working for companies in various industries may find appealing. They include improving workplace safety by providing better illumination; reducing overall utility costs by eliminating older lights that generated heat inside the plant; and lowering maintenance costs through the installation of products with a longer life. The new technology also brings Soffe into compliance with new federal lighting-efficiency regulations that take effect in the coming years.
The greatest benefit, however, is the positive impact on the environment and Soffe’s bottom line, says Piedmont. The energy efficiency project reduces Soffe’s carbon footprint by eliminating 846 metric tons of carbon dioxide—reportedly the equivalent of taking 166 cars off the road.
