Drywall Manufacturer Updates Lighting

Value Energy Solutions completed an energy efficient lighting retrofit project for Inex Building Supply, a distributor of drywall and other building products. Inex wanted to reduce its lighting expenses at its Baton Rouge, La., warehouse and office space.

Value Energy Solutions replaced the existing metal halide and T12 lighting with more energy efficient T5 lighting. In addition to energy savings, Inex will reduce its maintenance costs due to the extended life of the new T5 fixtures. Value Energy Solutions recommended upgrading the lighting to 4 LampT5 (54w). Value Energy says the T5 high bay fluorescent fixtures have advantages over traditional metal halide lighting, including:

• Energy Efficiency - Typical 54 watt T5 lamp produces 5000 lumens.
• Lower Lumen Depreciation - only 5-6 percent lumen output loss between the rated initial and maintained lumens. Metal halide lumen loss is about 35 percent.
• Higher Quality Lighting - T5 lamps have a color rendering Index of 85 while metal halide lamps have a CRI of 65-70.
• Instant Startup and Restrike - T5 fluorescent lamps start and restrike instantly unlike HID sources, which can take several minutes to restrike.

Vapor Tight Reflector T5 units were also used in two of the warehouses, and the project also incorporated LED wall packs and spotlights for exterior applications and T5 basket retrofit kits for interior office applications.