GE Lighting LED solutions were recently installed in several locations at Marriott International's headquarters located in Bethesda, Md. The installations have enriched lighting quality, heightened employee security and improved energy efficiency. Following its corporate campus-wide lighting update, Marriott will use 860,000 fewer kilowatt hours (kWhs) of electricity and save more than $120,000 in combined energy and maintenance costs a year.

Enhancing outdoor security while saving money
Security and energy savings were top priorities when considering new lighting to cover the nearly 2 million square feet (45 acres) of parking and garage space at Marriott headquarters. After testing competitive exterior garage fixtures, parking lot lights and contemporary post tops, Marriott selected GE's family of high-efficiency Evolve™ LED lighting systems.

"We preferred the exceptional output and uniformity of GE's Evolve LED lighting," says Jim Young, vice president, corporate facilities for Marriott International, Inc. "GE performed a comprehensive lighting audit of our existing system, provided photometric analysis with 3D renderings of the new system, and forecasted our energy and maintenance savings. GE excelled as both a trusted strategic consultant and solutions provider."

More than 230 Evolve LED Area Lights now illuminate Marriott's outdoor lots, while inside the parking deck nearly 400 Evolve LED Garage Light fixtures and several Evolve LED Tunnel Light installations-as well as more efficient GE T8 fluorescent lamps-help light the way for associates to and from the headquarters offices. Collectively, a 280-watt reduction per outdoor lighting fixture will cut electricity use by 580,000 kWhs a year, equating to $70,000 in utility cost savings.
 
In the foyer, special scaffolding is needed to reach fixtures in the high ceiling. Marriott would change the lights, which lasted just one to two years on average, only once a year at a cost close to $3,000. Maintenance savings will now add up after GE replaced 12 90-watt bulbs with 20-watt LED PAR38 lamps. Rated for 50,000 hours of life, GE's LEDs could keep the scaffolding away for up to seven years.
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"GE's considerable portfolio of exterior lighting products includes many aesthetically attractive fixtures offering long life, durable construction and an assortment of beam spreads to suit a wide variety of applications," notes Steve Briggs, vice president of product management and marketing for GE Lighting Solutions. "Our LED area lights consume between 97 and 220 watts and were designed to replace traditional 400- to 1,000-watt high-intensity discharge (HID) systems that can spill and waste light."

Marriott also gained the functionality to dim its new garage lighting with GE's ProSys™ Lighting Control system incorporating motion sensors. Light output is reduced to 40 percent while the garage is vacant and adjusts to 100 percent when motion is detected. Alone, this precise control will produce nearly $11,000 in energy savings (88,000-kWh reduction) each year. And, the control system will interface with Marriott's video surveillance center, alerting guards to after-hours movement in the deck and focusing the nearest security camera to where motion is detected.

Marriott also coordinated with Montgomery County government officials to replace 32 180-watt metal halide streetlights along the road that serves its headquarters and neighboring companies. With the first cost of GE's 106-watt Evolve LED Roadway Cobrahead fixtures covered by Marriott, the county will see an immediate benefit: using 10,000 fewer kWhs each year provides a $1,200 annual energy savings.

Investing in indoor Illumination
Moving inside Marriott's eight-floor, 900,000-square-foot headquarters, GE replaced 1,000 65-watt bulbs with 7-watt LED PAR20 lamps in all hallways. The 58-watt difference will mean a nearly $18,000 difference (150,000-kWh savings) in electricity expense over 261 working days.

In the foyer, special scaffolding is needed to reach fixtures in the high ceiling. Marriott would change the lights, which lasted just one to two years on average, only once a year at a cost close to $3,000. Maintenance savings will now add up after GE replaced 12 90-watt bulbs with 20-watt LED PAR38 lamps. Rated for 50,000 hours of life, GE's LEDs could keep the scaffolding away for up to seven years.

Meanwhile in the auditorium, combined halogen and compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) lighting was inadequate for Marriott's advanced dimming system. While the halogen lights could be darkened, the CFLs could not. A total of 140 GE 12-watt LED BR30 lamps improved the functionality of the space, producing a fully dimmable system with higher light levels and more light uniformity in addition to $2,300 in energy savings.

Seventy-two new GE Lumination® Recessed LED Troffers were next added to the building's lower level. When illuminated, the chic and slim 2'x2' fixtures produce a perfectly even glow. While off, they appear completely free of a light source to blend in with the ceiling, enhancing the elegant aesthetic of Marriott's employee space that includes a daycare and cafeteria.

GE also retrofit the 'Marriott' sign at the Bethesda headquarters entrance with Tetra® PowerStrip LED lighting, improving maintenance cycles from two to three times per year to once every five to 10 years.

Rapid returns
Marriott's comprehensive LED update will decrease annual electricity use by 66 percent (680,000 kWhs outside; 180,000 kWhs inside) at its headquarters, slashing energy expense an estimated $104,000. Maintenance mitigation will yield an additional $210,000 savings over the next decade for a total return exceeding $120,000 a year. Marriott will also receive more than $130,000 in utility rebates and EPACT savings. All told, the anticipated payback period for the lighting project is slightly more than two years, based on combined electricity, maintenance and labor reductions.

"Marriott has demonstrated its commitment to minimizing the environmental impact of its business operations many times throughout this project," Briggs says. "For GE it's been a source of great pride to help Marriott achieve its goal of reducing energy consumption by 25 percent per available room by 2017."