The facts are simple: Lighting makes up approximately 40 percent of the average commercial building’s electric bill, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, and that number is climbing. Energy consumption by commercial buildings rose 69 percent from 1980 to 2009, while the Energy Information Administration projects consumption is estimated to grow another 22 percent from 2009 to 2035, according to business research analysts from IBISWorld.
“At a time when 20 percent of the world’s electricity is used for lighting — and commercial lighting systems count for over 50 percent of the total electricity used for lighting — retrofits and upgrades that allow lighting systems to use energy more efficiently may be one of the best places to create improvements,” says Daintree Networks Inc., Los Altos, Calif.