Digital Lumens announced that DiloSpinnbau, a premier manufacturer of universal and high capacity carding machines used to process nonwoven fibers, has upgraded its 6,600 square-meter manufacturing facility to the Digital Lumens Intelligent Lighting System, saving 91 percent of its lighting energy costs annually.

By replacing its T8 fluorescent fixtures with the Digital Lumens system, DiloSpinnbau gained a highly controllable and efficient LED lighting solution that significantly improved lighting quality and illumination levels, while saving more than 351,000 kWh of electricity and 200,000 kilos/64 tons of CO2 annually.

By rapidly accumulating energy and maintenance savings, DiloSpinnbau was able to secure an investment payback period of 1.7 years, with annual savings in excess of €72,000 ($94,000), or more than €363,000 ($528,000) over five years.

By taking advantage of natural light from the facility’s many skylights and windows, the Intelligent Lighting Systems’ integrated daylight harvesting capabilities increased overall energy savings by 35 percent, adding to the already substantial savings enabled by its built-in occupancy sensors. Maintenance-free, the Intelligent Lighting System also eliminates the re-lamping and re-ballasting costs associated with the previous T8 fluorescent fixtures.

“Over several years, we tested a range of LEDs looking for a solution that not only delivered the light quality and energy savings we were looking for to replace the T8 lighting within our facility, but also a payback that ensured the investment made sense from an economic perspective,” said Dr. Hartmut Freund, Technical Director for DiloSpinnbau.

“We finally found that solution with the Intelligent Lighting System. Never before have we had this level of control over lighting within our facility, nor the visibility into how lighting is being used – by kWh, occupancy patterns and utilization rates – to support day-to-day operations. It’s a remarkably intuitive way of thinking about lighting, with very real impact on light quality, efficiency and bottom-line savings.”

The DiloSpinnbau management team turned to SchahlLED, an international distributor of specialty LED lighting, to help design, test and install the new system.

“In side-by-side comparisons, the Digital Lumens Intelligent LED System significantly outperformed fluorescent and basic LED alternatives in lighting quality, controllability and energy savings, making it the first LED solution we’ve seen with the investment returns necessary to justify the switch from fluorescents to LEDs,” said Erich Obermeier of SchahlLED. 

“As importantly, the efficiency improvements will help insulate DiloSpinnbau from rapidly escalating energy costs, which are on the order of 10 percent per year in Germany.”

“We are delighted that DiloSpinnbau has chosen Digital Lumens, and is taking full advantage of the system’s intelligent features to maximize savings. Integrated intelligence is the key to extraordinary savings, and makes the economics of an HIF upgrade work,” said Michael Feinstein, Digital Lumens Vice President of Sales and Marketing. 

“Beyond efficiency, integrated intelligence enables customers to measure, evaluate and manage lighting settings to optimize delivery, resulting in the most powerful lighting solutions for industrial facilities.”