BD+C Product of the Week: ‘Smart’ occupancy sensor cuts energy, extends lamp life
Jul 28 2009 9:53AM
By Dave Barista
Orion Energy Systems’ InteLite occupancy sensor collects data on the presence of people who routinely move through a space during a 24-hour period. The sensor has the ability to adapt the lighting schedule based on this data and automatically adjust the settings of each fixture to stay on longer or turn off sooner to save even more energy.
Orion’s new sensor technology also features an adjustable field of view, allowing users to easily change the direction the sensor focuses, increasing its reliability to turn on when needed.
In a recently completed project, the actual cost to operate the lighting system was reduced from $285 per high-intensity discharge fixture to $44 per fixture a year when the occupancy sensor was used with Orion’s Compact Modular lighting platform and InteLite control system. In other areas of the facility, the addition of Orion’s Apollo Solar Light Pipe decreased operating costs nearly to zero during peak hours of the day.
PepsiAmericas and Sysco Foods are among the early adopters of the smart occupancy sensor. A Sysco Foods facility in Walnut, Calif., installed InteLite on more than 1,000 of Orion’s Compact Modular fixtures previously installed at the facility. The InteLite sensors alone are estimated to help the facility reduce energy waste by nearly 1.3 million kilowatt-hours.
At a PepsiAmericas production and warehouse facility in Reserve, La., the beverage giant is installing the intelligent occupancy sensors on 155 of the Orion Compact Modular fixtures also being implemented. The Compact Modular system alone will save PepsiAmericas 334,000 kilowatt-hours. The addition of the occupancy sensors will increase the savings by another 211,000 kilowatt-hours annually.
For more information, visit www.oriones.com/technology.php.
