A change of lighting that cut lighting power usage by the equivalent of 102,068 gallons of gasoline per year has earned for the G.C. Bretting Company of Ashland WI Great Lakes Technology's Friend of the Environment award.

The award goes to companies who make significant environment-benefiting power reductions through use of GLT lighting products.

All told, Bretting replaced some 716 fixtures -- mostly the high-intensity discharge (HID) type with some conventional fluorescents -- with 715 high-intensity fluorescent fixtures from Great lakes Technology of Manitowoc. The project was handled by Midwest Lighting, Inc. of Eau Claire, WI.

The change reduced Bretting's lighting power usage from 2,361,824 kilowatt-hours (kWh) annually to 1,125,396, a 47 percent saving of 1,236,428. At the same time, the overall light level was found to have increased by 79%.

Environmental benefits come from power reductions because the power once needed no longer has to be generated at all -- and other things happen because of that.

In Bretting's case, the 1,236,428 kWh saved means that in a typical year 1,205 tons of carbon dioxide, 329 tons of carbon, 5.2 tons of sulfur dioxide and 2.5 tons of nitrogen oxides will not enter the atmosphere. The reduction has the air-scrubbing capacity of a 227-acre forest or removing 200 cars from the road, and the conservation equivalent of the already-mentioned 102,068 gallons of gasoline saved per year.

"We were told of Bretting's interest through Wisconsin Focus on Energy (a state energy-efficiency program)," said Dallas Short, owner of Midwest Lighting. "Pete Wood of Great Lakes and I worked on it for six months and found we had a lot of competition."

"Bretting was extremely pleasant to work with," Short said. "Once you have the contract to do an installation, companies will often treat it as "well, it's your problem" but Bretting assigned a person to facilitate the installation. He knew everyone there and when we were done in one area he had the next one ready for us."

"The job was pretty straightforward," Wood said. "There are usually some issues in locating new lights, but here there was nothing out of the ordinary. Bretting is an extremely clean place -- I think they have cleaning crews that come in every weekend and do nothing else. I see a lot of factories and this one was extraordinarily clean."

Bretting maintenance manager Bill Koehler said the decision came about through "Three years of research and a mailer sent by GLT. We did some internal tests and found their promised reliability, savings and everything was there so we decided to go for it."

"The new lighting has been received fantastically well," Koehler said. "We have much brighter work areas. It's easier to work on things, the machine shop and assembly areas have more light, and we anticipate $9,000 a month in reduced lighting costs."

CEO David Bretting said he liked the added light output and is amazed at the difference it has made. He was also surprised it took the Midwest crew only three weeks to replace the 716 fixtures.

Koehler continued, "Our company does environmentally-beneficial things when we have the opportunity; areas we have focused on have been product painting methods, cleaning solutions and building HVAC systems."

"And people here thought the Friend of the Environment was pretty doggoned neat! Everybody was pretty excited when they had a chance to do something that works out all the way around. It was a win-win for everybody --"

The energy savings and environmental benefits are possible because Great Lakes Technology utilizes state-of -the-art design in joining highly efficient reflectors and durable, low-temperature electronic ballasts with the highly efficient T8 fluorescent technology. This means that GLT fixtures not only produce more and better-quality light than the HIDs they were designed to replace, but operate 1000 degrees F cooler and turn on and off instantly, saving delays after power outages.

"Besides the environmental considerations, taking that 1.23 million kWh off the power grid benefits us all," commented Great Lakes Technology Business Development Director Mike Ontrop. "This action tends to stabilize electric prices by reducing the demand -- and rising energy rates are a problem we're all facing in the future. We congratulate the G.C. Bretting on this many-sided achievement, which could serve as a model for other companies."

C. G. Bretting Manufacturing Company Inc. is a full-line supplier of paper converting equipment. Our Napkin Folders, Towel Folders, Interfolders, Rewinders, and Specialty Machinery produce napkins, tissue and other specialty products for the paper converting industry. Our product offerings range from integration of specialty modules into existing production lines to supplying complete turnkey installations. We leverage the strength of more than a century of experience into meeting customers' equipment needs worldwide. We take great pride in designing innovative solutions and providing world class customer service to our customers. Our 280,000 square foot plant and headquarters are located on the southern shore of Lake Superior in Ashland, Wisconsin, USA. This facility houses complete design, engineering and manufacturing capabilities, supporting both our converting equipment and our Contract Manufacturing Services division. Visit the Bretting website at http://www.bretting.com/

Midwest Lighting Company, LLC is a distributor and installer of energy efficient lighting. Additionally, Midwest is a supplier of repair/replacement lighting (bulbs, ballasts, and fixtures) to industrial/commercial customers. To contact Midwest Lighting Company, LLC call toll free 800-366-5131.

Great Lakes Technology (GLT) is a leader and innovator in the design and manufacture of high performance lighting products. GLT's technology platform and patented modular fluorescent lighting designs allow for future field-installable upgrades, like the ability to set up fixtures as a load shedding instrument through use of our building management system interface technology. GLT's cutting edge products provide sustainable, guaranteed energy savings with the industry’s fastest return on investment (ROI). GLT has created, developed and built a light source that is up to 50 percent more energy efficient, produces up to 50 percent more and better quality light, weighs 50 percent less and operates 1000 degrees cooler than traditional HID technology. Visit the GLT website at http://www.gltmfg.com/

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