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The Mount Vernon Road Hy-Vee Food Store in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, wanted to find a way to strike a balance between its sustainability mission and its need to reduce energy consumption and maintenance costs. In taking steps to make its store and operations more earth-friendly, they partnered with Van Meter, Interstate Power and Light, an Alliant Energy Company and the Iowa Energy Center to find a solution.

ChallengeThe object of the collaborative pilot study was to evaluate the effectiveness, efficiency and usefulness of retrofitting 12 metal halide parking lot lights with LED (light emitting diode) lighting. The purpose was to gather information to shape future energy-efficiency programs. An LED is a semiconductor that only allows passage of electricity through a chemical composition to emit light. LEDs have surpassed the efficiency and life expectancy of many light sources such as incandescent and halogen. Some HID sources and are getting close to fluorescent lighting.

SolutionBob Workman, a Van Meter lighting specialist and a member of the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America, took the lead to design a layout for the retrofit project. The intent of the design was to retrofit the existing 1,000-watt metal halide fixtures one for one with a fixture that would meet or exceed the existing light levels and visibility in the parking lot while maximizing energy and maintenance savings. After researching many fixtures, the 309-watt Cooper Lighting — Ventus fixture was selected.

HY-VEE LIGHTING RETROFIT IMPROVES EFFICIENCY AND SAFETY, CUTS COSTS

CASE STUDY:Hy-Vee (Mt. Vernon Road) Cedar Rapids, Iowa

BEFORE

AFTER

“It’s challenging and expensive to replace lights at the top of tall posts. The fact

that LED lamps last about four times

longer will result in a significant savings in

maintenance.”

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ResultThe new, energy-efficient Cooper Lighting — Ventus LED fixtures will save the Mount Vernon Road Hy-Vee more than 40,000 kilowatt hours of electricity each year and reduce maintenance needs. Jeff Hubler, Hy-Vee Food Store Manager, noted “It’s challenging and expensive to replace lights at the top of tall posts. The fact that LED lamps last about four times longer will result in a significant savings in maintenance.”

In addition to the parking lot lights, the store also replaced 26 halogen lights inside Hy-Vee’s health food section with LED lamps. In total, the Hy-Vee food store expects to save more than $5,000 per year in energy and maintenance costs. The Iowa Energy Center staff completed monitoring the light output and measuring and validating the energy savings from the project.

Hy-Vee’s sustainability mission is to promote the well-being of its customers, employees, communities and the global environment. “This LED lighting project definitely helps support our mission,” added Hubler.

Learn MoreExperience the new Van Meter. For innovative ideas in energy-efficient products, services and solutions for your business, visit www.vanmeterinc.com or contact a Van Meter sales representative at 1-800-247-1410.

CASE STUDY:Hy-Vee (Mt. Vernon Road) Cedar Rapids, Iowa