Simon Property Group Inc. announced that it has taken another step towards "greening" its malls in the Northeast region of the U.S. From New Jersey to New Hampshire, nearly 650 carts and kiosks in 29 malls have been retrofitted with 10,000 energy efficient SoL(TM) LED MR16 lamps from Lighting Science Group Corporation.

The carts and kiosks generally feature specialty products such as jewelry, cosmetics, cell phones, art and tee shirts. Typically, they were illuminated with thirteen 35-watt halogen MR16 reflector lamps. Simon chose to replace these lamps with the 5-watt Lighting Science retrofit LED lamps.

"While providing the same high quality lighting that Simon mall shoppers have come to expect, the Lighting Science Group energy efficient LED lamps will reduce energy consumption by 85%, save over 1.3 million kWh of electricity annually, and will have a positive impact on the environment by avoiding the emission of 944 metric tons of CO2," said George Caraghiaur, Vice President of Energy Services at Simon. "That's enough energy to power 131 homes for a year and the equivalent amount of carbon sequestered annually from 24,197 tree seedlings grown over 10 years.*"

The Lighting Science SoL LED MR16 lamp used to illuminate the kiosks at Simon's northeast properties is a compact reflector lamp that can be used in both commercial and residential track and downlight fixtures. The light source consumes only 5 watts and will last about 35,000 hours or 8 years in this particular application, thereby significantly reducing maintenance costs. The Lighting Science LED retrofit lamps offer a warm and pleasing light color, and its performance is validated by an independent testing lab that is approved for LM-79 Testing for ENERGY STAR for Solid State lighting by the United States Department of Energy CALiPER program.

*Source: U.S. EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator: www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/energy-resources/calculator.html