Friday, February 29, 2008: Laurel Steel, a division of Harris Steel Limited, has reduced its energy consumption by undertaking an extensive lighting retrofit at its Burlington, Ontario facility.
By replacing the existing 400 Watt metal halide fixtures with energy efficient T-8 fluorescent fixtures in the production areas and converting the T-12 fluorescent fixtures in the office areas to T-8, significant savings were achieved. Over 160 kW of power, amounting to 1,153,000 kWh/year, have been avoided. This amount of power is equivalent to the electricity used by 115 average Ontario Homes.
Mike Caruso, Laurel’s Environmental Co-ordinator, states: “Not only are we reducing the amount of power we use, we are making substantial improvements to the environment as well. The power which we will no longer require means that Ontario will burn less fossil fuel to generate electricity”. This project alone will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by:
- 767 tonnes of Carbon Dioxide (CO2)
- 3,400 Kilograms of Sulphur Dioxide (SO2)
- 712 Kilograms of Nitrous Oxides (NOx)
Burlington Hydro helped offset the cost of implementing this project through the Ontario Power Authority’s Electricity Retrofit Incentive Program (ERIP). This program provides cash incentives for commercial organization to reduce their electricity consumption through facility retrofits. For more information on this program visit www.burlingtonhydro.com.
David Collie, CEO and President of Burlington Hydro states: “We are pleased that Laurel Steel was the first Burlington company to participate in the program and we hope they come forward with further energy savings projects as we will be there to support their efforts”
