by jbs072209 i3 — July 24, 2009—The Wal-Mart Superstore in Leavenworth, Kansas, recently reopened as the first retail store to feature light-emitting diode (LED) parking lot site lighting based on specifications developed by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The Superstore will serve as a test site to determine the viability of expanding LED parking lot lights at Wal-Mart stores nationwide.
The specifications for the LED lighting were sponsored by DOE and were developed by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and stakeholders nationwide to address energy-efficient lighting opportunities. DOE’s Solid-State Lighting Program provided technical assistance.
LED parking lot lighting is a new technology that has potentially enormous energy savings, explains DOE. LED lights are reportedly more precise in their direction, reducing waste light and limiting glare. DOE and its national laboratories predict that LED parking lot lights will reduce parking lot energy needs by more than 50 percent and maintenance costs by more than 80 percent compared to traditional lights. For sites that are open 24 hours a day, traditional lights must be replaced every two years; LED lights will be replaced every 10 years on average.
Wal-Mart is one of 43 retailers that are actively engaged in DOE’s Net-Zero Commercial Building Initiative (CBI) as members of the DOE Retailer Energy Alliance (REA). REA members work with DOE and the national laboratories to advance the development and market adoption of net-zero energy commercial buildings. Other Net-Zero alliances include the Hospital Energy Alliance and the Commercial Real Estate Energy Alliance.
