Case study from SloanLED - Passing the Test, College Shell, Ventura, USA

As seen in the Q 2/2012, PEI journal

Case study - Passing the Test
College Shell - Ventura, Calif, USA

If you leave Beaverton and head way down the coast to sunny Ventura, California, you may ultimately find yourself filling up at College Shell, which has been owned by Pragnesh Desai since the late 1990s. The store’s six fueling islands – five for gasoline and one for diesel – are beneath two canopies, one on the front and one on the side.

Desai did a major remodel in 2004, well before LED was commercially available. By 2009, however, he was ready to move to the new generation of lighting. To be more precise, he was at least ready to consider it. The promised energy savings were appealing, but before he went “all in”, he decided to test the technology, starting with just four lights on the store’s smaller side canopy. He even kept the old lights connected – just in case he wasn’t happy with the result.

The test he had envisioned didn’t take long. As soon as the LED lights went up, Desai was sold. In his words, the experience was “like seeing everything in high definition”.

And before long, it was clear that the store’s energy usage was definitely going down. So, he soon installed the lights on the larger canopy in front of the store. Next he replaced 40 fluorescent tubes on the building with LED strips. Most recently, he’s converted the property’s exterior pole lights to LED.

Unlike Berman, Desai did not qualify for any state or federal incentives, rebates or other financial benefits. But that makes his store’s financial results even more impressive. He’s seeing $300 to $400 per month savings on his electric bills – an even greater return than his supplier had projected. As a result, his payback for the new lights – which had initially been estimated at 4 ½ years – will be more like 3 ½ years.
______________________________________________________________________________

Rick long is general manager and associate general counsel of PEI.