While there are many many stories on green business that occur every single day, some are confusing and others tell you a political perspective. I can tell you I’ve been working on green lighting since the early 2000s, and things are not only getting interesting, they are helping our economy. MSI Lighting is just one company that is expanding, growing and wants to get bigger in America for green jobs.
Let me explain.
Green Lighting as we coin in our book in my Green Guru Guides series is when lighting is better for the quality of light, the efficiency of the light and the cost versus energy savings. While we have heard of squiggly lined CFL bulbs that are going to wreck the moral fabric of our society, that is not the case. While I used to be into CFL and there are some applications, I would say to the person that does not read MOTHER EARTH NEWS on the regular to buy them if you cannot be hindered by cost; just oversize it a little. So if a 12- or 14-watt bulb doesn’t work in regard to your happiness, then please by all means go to a 23- or 26-watt compact fluorescent lighting (CFL). Why do I say this? I’d rather you switch that incandescent bulb. So go ahead. It won’t hurt. It might take a little to warm up, but once it does, watch out. Plus you’ll save money due to the energy savings from a 100-watt lamp or 75-watt lamp. Either way you, the energy and environmental savings are exponential at that time (up to only 10 percent of your energy bill and maybe 10 percent on cooling costs).
Now if you want to make a really big splash you go for a light emitting diode (LED). I have those all throughout my house from my corporate sponsor MSI Lighting. For the record, I also have LEDs from Cree, Toshiba, Bulbrite and others that I tested and wrote stories about on my Green Living Guy website. Regardless, I save a lot of money. In high-paying electricity rates, I saved about $200 per month (including now I have an Energy Star washer and dryer but that was after the savings; we’ll get into that in another story).
So my buddies at MSI are at places you probably know of, have traveled to or seen. They light up Macy’s, Jones New York, Abercrombie and Fitch, San Diego Air and Space Museum, plus the Liberty Bell. Yes, if you see Liberty Bell herself, it’s lit up from them. The National Park Service has chosen the super-efficient MSi iPAR 38 LED lights to illuminate the Liberty Bell in downtown Philadelphia.
In 2003 the bell was moved into the new Liberty Bell Center, a glass and steel pavilion that allows it to be viewed by the public 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This new setting is perfectly suited for the kind of efficient, bright and long burning light provided by LEDs.
Why is that important?
Macy’s is saving $1 million a year in New York state during a pilot program with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. MSI reported the following:
If you’re not working with NYSERDA, you’re missing a vital resource that can help make your new or existing facility more energy efficient, in turn more profitable and more competitive. NYSERDA saves New York’s retailers millions of energy dollars every year and provides generous incentives. With funding from NYSERDA, Macy’s made a change in lighting technology and reduced display lighting energy consumption by nearly 73 percent while keeping merchandise bright and beautiful. NYSERDA brings innovative solutions and straight talk on energy efficiency to your planning table, maximizing your energy savings and reducing your costs. Call today for solutions from New York state’s energy experts. Good for the environment and good for business.
They are in more than New York State! Imagine that money going into hiring or jobs? Well Macy’s said they are now going to do every state in the Union regardless of energy incentives. So that was after one month what happened to one company. Shell uses LED in and under their canopies, too, but they are not MSI.
Regardless! Don’t you see the impact that can have on companies. This MSI Lighting is about $10 million in annual sales and has the ability to go to $100 million. Their next opportunity is to expand to and with a big corporate player. Look people, this is an American success story. They have patented lighting technologies and want to badly work as part of and with one of the bigger boys and girls in the schoolyard (per se). I believe it should to grow this economy and the potential for green jobs not to just be considered a four-letter word. It’s real people in the State of Florida working for us and Americans to build a company here and to inevitably have all parts of the bulb be made in America.