(Fayetteville, Tenn.) - The Center for Energy Efficiency (CEE) at Middle Tennessee State University granted its 2010 award for "Energy Project of the Year" to Fushi Copperweld's wire manufacturing plant in Lincoln County, Tenn. for retrofitting its lighting grid. The award recognizes businesses, individuals, or organizations that demonstrate innovation in their implementation of energy efficiency projects.

MAX LeasingUSA provided the financing to complete a total retrofit of the lighting grid at the Fushi Copperweld's 298,000 square-foot facility in August of 2009. "We are proud to be associated with Fushi Copperweld's energy-efficiency project. MAX is committed to sustainable solutions and has an educational initiative through EcoMAX® to help educate businesses and communities on energy-efficiency and other sustainable practices," said Bruce Chafin, Senior Vice President of MAX LeasingUSA.

Lynn Patterson, Fushi Copperweld's facilities engineer, says that the need for a better lighting system in the plant was vital. "Our facility in Fayetteville opened in 1975, and still used the original lighting throughout." High-pressure sodium (HPS) lamps, which were the norm at that time, were a drain on the factory's maintenance budget, according to Patterson.

"The HPS lamps burn at nearly 1800 degrees Fahrenheit, and require both a warm-up and a cool-down time of about 20 minutes before they can be removed for replacement or repair. If there is a power outage or the lighting system is de-energized for maintenance, we experience delays, which make our employees and maintenance crews less productive," he explains.

Replacing the HPS lamps with efficient fluorescent tubes, which operate at just 110 degrees Fahrenheit, not only means instant light throughout the plant, it lowers the ambient temperature, saves on cooling costs, and reduces the risk of danger to workers.

The Fushi Copperweld factory is in production 24 hours a day, seven days a week, but not every area of the plant is in constant use. The installation of motion-activated sensors throughout the manufacturing space and the offices enables maximum savings during downtime in zones where work is not actively being done. The lights cycle off in areas where no movement is detected, but instantly come on the moment an employee enters that part of the facility, or when a machine is turned on.

The fluorescent tubes are also brighter and give off a truer, whiter light than the yellow-hued luminescence of HPS lamps. There has been an increase of as much as 70% in the amount of available light in some areas of the factory. As well, the fluorescent tubes last about twice as long and maintain 93% of their initial lumens over time, compared to only 63% for HPS lamps. Studies have shown that better light also makes for happier employees, fewer errors, and increased productivity.

"The retrofit made operational sense," says Mike Beddoe, the plant's general manager. "The positive impact on the environment speaks for itself, but moreover, we can count on it yielding substantial financial rewards almost immediately." In just one year, the facility will reduce its annual electricity usage for lighting by nearly 66%- 2.1 million kWh- a reduction which, combined with tax and maintenance savings, will yield a total savings of approximately $300,000. Fushi Copperweld projects the new lighting scheme will have paid for itself in just eleven months.

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