Home > News > Media Room > Press Releases > Sustainability - Lights That Run on Less Energy are Good for the Environment and Help Control Rising Costs

Jo Natale, director of media relations, 585-429-3627

ROCHESTER, NY – By year’s end, Wegmans Food Markets expects to cut by half the energy it uses for lighting at several Rochester-area facilities, thanks to the replacement of 5,700 older metal halide and high pressure sodium fixtures with new high-efficiency fluorescent fixtures with associated controls. The facilities being retrofitted include nearly all of the company’s warehouse complexes in Rochester.

 

The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that about 22 percent of the electricity used in the U.S. is for lighting. The projected electric savings related to this project would power over 800 homes for a year.

 

Wegmans will spend a little more than $1.5 million to replace the older fixtures with more efficient ones, and expects to recoup its investment in the form of lower energy costs in about three years’ time. The project is part of Wegmans’ commitment to the basic principles of sustainability: to reduce, reuse, and recycle wherever possible.

 

“There are many reasons why cutting energy use is the right thing to do,” said Jason Wadsworth, Wegmans’ sustainability specialist.  “If we use less energy and thus lower our costs, we can hold the line on food prices, while reducing our impact on the environment. Our employees win too; the new lights are brighter and create a much better work environment.”

 

In addition to this project, all new Wegmans stores use high-efficiency fluorescent fixtures overhead, so aisles can be illuminated for 50% of the energy cost of the metal halide bulbs previously used. Wegmans is also using LED lighting for door units of freezer, dairy, and other cooler cases, as well as for exit signs and exterior display signs such as the big Wegmans sign over the entrance of every store. LED (light emitting diodes) technology uses less energy than other forms of lighting and gives off less heat – a bonus where temperature-controls must be tightly maintained for food safety.

 

“We are pursuing environmentally friendly design, construction and maintenance practices where feasible in all of our facilities,” explained Carol Duquette, Wegmans’ vice president of design services and maintenance. “Lighting is an area where technology is improving energy efficiency at an incredible rate. These lighting projects, and our continued use of environmentally friendly secondary refrigeration systems in our stores, keep Wegmans on the forefront of sustainability in our industry.”

 

 ##

 

Wegmans Food Markets, Inc. is a 72-store supermarket chain with stores in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, and Maryland.  The family-owned company, founded in 1916, is recognized as an industry leader and innovator.  Wegmans has been named one of the ‘100 Best Companies to Work For’ by FORTUNE magazine for 11 consecutive years.  In 2008, Wegmans ranked #3 on the list.