The state’s largest brewery says it’s on pace to save $17,356 a year in electricity costs thanks to the installation of an advanced LED lighting system, according to tracking by utility parent Avangrid.
More than 200 LED fixtures at Two Roads Brewing’s Stratford headquarters were replaced earlier this year. The Digital Lumens system has advanced controls, including the ability to tune lighting levels for certain uses, as well as sensors that adjust the lighting depending on daylight, according to Energize Connecticut, which along with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) provided funding for the nearly $159,000 upgrade.
DOE first announced funding for a commercial building technology demonstration project in July 2014. Among the four recipients that ultimately shared $6 million in funding was the New England Energy Partnership (NEEP), which had proposed an advanced lighting control project in 10 buildings in the region.
Nine were ultimately selected, including Two Roads, which was the first Northeast project completed.
According to the DOE, which visited Two Roads last month to see the new system, the commercial building program is meant to promote “technologies that are ready for market adoption but that may be underutilized due to market barriers including perception of risk, gaps in information and data on performance as well as cost.”
The energy-use monitoring by United Illuminating at the site is meant to help validate the technology.
