As Congress Dithers Over Light Bulbs, AMF Bowls for Dollars

While Congress debates the merits of light bulb standards, I decided to take my two daughters out for a little entertainment this weekend. It was a great time to escape the sweltering summer heat in DC, so I took them someplace where they could forget about the blast furnace beating down outside. Not a pool or a movie theater, but a bowling alley. That's right, bowling in the heat of the summer.

Truth is, I also had an ulterior motive. I was on a mission to see if the energy efficiency programs of AMF, the world’s largest chain of bowling centers, really worked as advertised. The company completed a major efficiency lighting retrofit last year at all of its 286 centers, replacing old fluorescent bulbs with more efficient lighting designed to save the company $3 million a year. That’s something even Thomas Edison would have crowed about.

In fact it worked so well, AMF decided to do more energy efficiency upgrades. So it contracted with Lime Energy to install a state of the art web based building automation system that monitors energy use at more than 100 bowling alleys, alerting managers to make money saving energy adjustments when something gets out of whack.

Those savings add up, according to company executives. “It’s very important for us to control energy costs since it’s our biggest cost after labor,” says Simon Shearer, AMF’s senior VP for facilities and design. “The return on investment has been greater than 50% for our lighting and energy monitoring systems. It’s met all our expectations and more.”

AMF's bowling center in College Park, MD            Photos: Rocky Kistner/NRDC

Shearer says the company initially was concerned that the new efficiency bulbs might change the lighting appearance. Instead, he says, the new lighting not only maintained the same light temperature and color, but each bulb was brighter so the company could use fewer of them and save money.

All this sounds great, but is it real? I put it to the acid test and took by kids to check it out. As we entered AMF’s College Park, MD, bowling center, it was a toasty 90 plus degrees on the street. But inside it was like a blast of cool mountain air. No sweat- soaked shirts in this environment. Kids’ birthday parties were in full swing up and down the lanes. Pins were flying, videos flashed and music blared as people high-fived or grimaced after their shots. All of the lanes were lit with brightly colored lights and occasionally the entire building would light up. It was like an indoor carnival, and the energy radiated on my kids’ faces.  

But the party even extends to the people paying the utility bills. Energy costs for them have been going down not up. Smart businesses like AMF are investing in energy efficiency to reduce their costs, cutting the need to build more polluting power plants. Department of Energy studies show homeowners save up to 75% energy savings by switching to new efficient light bulbs.

It’s a no brainer, according to AMF’s Simon Shearer, who says he gets calls nearly every day from other business asking whether energy savings work as advertised. That’s a question he's quick to answer. “Energy efficiency is a business initiative that keeps on giving.”

 

Bowling at AMF in College Park                               Photos: Rocky Kistner

Whether it’s better light bulbs or more efficient heating and air conditioning systems, energy saving measures help the bottom line for both businesses and homeowners. While some in Congress are using scare tactics to fight new lighting and energy efficiency standards, all you have to do is talk to the folks at AMF to find out the truth.

People do have a choice. They can stay the course and spend like it’s yesterday. Or they can invest in the new energy efficient technologies like AMF and save money for their future, creating new jobs in the process.  

Seems like AMF is bowling a strike on this one. 

 

Follow Rocky Kistner on Twitter: www.twitter.com/rockyatnrdc

Comments

[alvdh1]

06:54 PM on 07/14/2011

This is a good article on LED lighting.

http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2011/07/14/4-ways-improve-already-disruptive-technology-leds

[alvdh1]

06:44 PM on 07/14/2011

Energy efficiency is a no brainer. There are 7,600,000,000 inefficient lights in use in the U.S. of which 3,700,000,000 are incandescent. Depending who's statistics you look at, lighting represents 18-23 percent of all electricity demand. LED's are currently 85 percent more efficient than incandescent lighting. Over the last couple of years, I have replaced nearly every light in my house with super efficient LED's. In addition, I replaced my energy gobbling refrigerator with a smaller energy star frig. The energy savings have been dramatic. Between October and April, my Kwh usages has plummeted from about 850 Kwh to 325 Kwh. The net result has been about $60 per month in electricity costs. My LED's cost on average $40 per light and the frig cost $450 for a total of about $1,500.

If my math is correct, the payback period is 25 months. Every month thereafter, the money goes into my pocket instead of the utility's pocket. The next investment will be geothermal heating & cooling followed by solar pv panels. It makes no sense to invest in solar before employing energy efficiency unless it is solar thermal to augment heating requirements or to augment the heating side of geothermal. There are tough times ahead with regard to energy costs. LED's may seem expensive now, but I am enjoying the savings regardless of the initial price.

[lambdin1]

10:06 PM on 07/12/2011

I've been expiermenting with newer light bulbs. Most CFS bulbs can not be dimmed. If you can find those that can be dimmed, they are very expensive compared to halogen and the old incadesent bulb. Halogen can be dimmed and is an energy saver. Manufactures do not want to change. The equipment is expensive and they ultimately pass on the cost to the consumer. Going green with energy needs to be everyone's concern. I applaud AMF for its moving in that direction. But it was the money it could save and thus have a higher profit. Only when it can be shown to the consumer that going green can be a money saver will it ever catch on.

[beckjr2000]

11:37 AM on 07/12/2011

Bogus argument! Those in Congress are not fighting new lighting and energy efficiency standards but Government mandates that you must use these new bulbs. This should be a matter of choice not Law.

[Jim Milks]

01:27 PM on 07/12/2011

You really should read the law they're set on repealing before making comments like that. The law didn't say that you had to use CFLs or LEDs. In fact, it doesn't even ban incandescent bulbs. Instead, it sets an energy efficiency standard where new light bulbs had to be 30% more efficient. So those in Congress ARE fighting new lighting and energy efficiency standards, not some non-existant mandate.

For a summary of the law, see http://www.energystar.gov/ia/products/lighting/cfls/downloads/EISA_Backgrounder_FINAL_4-11_EPA.pdf

[beckjr2000]

02:06 PM on 07/12/2011

It mandate that's incandescent bulbs currently available with not be available. That is the same thing. If it's such a wonderful advance why make it illegal to sell the existing models? Make the new bulbs available? Yes! Make their use mandatory? Absolutely not!