900 NORTH MICHIGAN AVENUE
LED AND FLUORESCENT LIGHTING PROJECT
PROJECT SNAPSHOT
Customer
900 N. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL
Measures implemented
Reduced wattage linear fluorescent,
screw-in LED PAR lamps
Total project cost
$49,500
Estimated annual energy savings
400,000 kWh
Estimated annual cost savings
$36,000
Smart Ideas incentives received
$17,000
Estimated payback period without
Smart Ideas incentive
1.4 years
Estimated payback period with
Smart Ideas incentive
0.9 years
PROJECT SUMMARY
900 North Michigan Avenue is one of the highest profile
retail shopping addresses in the Midwest–if not the
United States–and is located on Chicago’s “Magnificent
Mile.” The property consists of seven levels of retail space
and a 13-story commercial office building totaling
760,000 square feet. The retail clients are demanding
and expect management to maintain the appearance
of the building in a manner consistent with the highquality brand names represented by its tenants.
Additionally, ceramic metal halide lamps lose nearly
half of their light over life and change color over time.
This was very apparent on the white marble floors
throughout the mall. The fluorescent lighting was
retrofitted to a system that was significantly more
efficient and offered much better color rendering. Plus,
the old T12s being used were discontinued in July 2012
as a result of recent energy legislation.
The challenge for management at 900 North Michigan
was to select an energy-efficient lighting system that
did not compromise the building’s image. They decided
to focus on the fluorescent lighting throughout the
property and the recessed lighting in the common areas
of the mall. Over the last several years, the mall’s
lighting load was reduced by more than 70 percent by
converting from 90 watt PAR halogen to 25 watt ceramic
metal halide lamps.
Johnson Controls manages the engineering operations at
900 North Michigan and worked with Englewood Electric
Supply, a Smart Ideas for Your Business® BILD program
distributor, to conduct a lighting analysis for the building.
They identified products that are high performance and
deliver additional cost savings.
However, there are drawbacks to ceramic metal halide
lamps. Since ceramic metal halide lamps do not relight
immediately in the event of a power interruption, the
management had to reinstall PAR halogen in several
fixtures to provide immediate light during the time it
takes for ceramic metal halide to reach full brightness.
Having to reinstall halogen lamps not only increased
the energy consumption of the lighting system, but also
altered the light color when lit.
THE SOLUTION
The first lighting system to be retrofitted was the linear
fluorescent. All of the T12 lamps and magnetic ballasts
were converted to 4 foot, 25 watt T8 fluorescents with
reduced wattage electronic ballasts using the incentives
available from the ComEd Smart Ideas program. As a
result, the fluorescent lighting load was reduced by
nearly 35 percent and the superior color rendering of the
new T8 lamps improved the appearance of the facility.
“”
These lights look great, save energy
and have a built-in ComEd rebate that
makes them less expensive than what I
am currently using. All of that makes
this project a no-brainer.
- Paul Kennedy, Johnson Controls
Photo depicts top floor with LED lighting and bottom floors with ceramic metal halide lamps
To address the performance issues with the ceramic
metal halide, Englewood Electric Supply recommended a
19 watt LED PAR lamp in place of the existing lighting
system. By applying incentives available through the
ComEd Smart Ideas for Your Business BILD program,
the cost of the LED product was reduced to less than the
replacement cost of the ceramic metal halide lamps.
Johnson Controls began to convert the mall to LED,
replacing all 325 lamps on the 6th floor.
PROJECT BENEFITS
“These lights look great, save energy and have a built-in
ComEd rebate that makes them less expensive than what
I am currently using. All of that makes this project a
no-brainer,” says Paul Kennedy of Johnson Controls. Not
only did the LEDs further reduce the lighting load by
nearly 25 percent, they tripled the lamp life of the lighting
system to 45,000 hours. The visual impact of the LED
lamps is dramatic as well. Gone is the color shift on the
white floors that occurred with the ceramic metal halide.
LEDs provide crisp white pools of light that enhance the
high end image that the tenants expect of the property.
900 North Michigan will continue the conversion to
LED and will replace an additional 650 ceramic metal
halide lamps on the first two floors with the 19 watt
LED. When all of the ceramic metal halide lamps are
converted to LED, the lighting system will be nearly
80 percent more efficient than the halogen product that
was originally installed. The greatest benefit is having
a lighting system with a useful lifespan of more than
7 years.
NOT SURE WHERE TO START?
Ask for a FREE Smart Ideas Opportunity Assessment.
A Smart Ideas Opportunity Assessment identifies energyefficiency projects at your facility that may qualify for
Smart Ideas incentives. A ComEd energy engineer will
spend approximately two hours onsite to identify energyefficiency opportunities. Within two weeks, you will
receive a letter detailing recommended energy-efficiency
projects, with estimated energy savings, estimated cost
savings, project costs, potential incentives and simple
payback for each one. A Smart Ideas outreach account
manager will follow up with a consultation to discuss
your options and answer your questions.
To schedule a Smart Ideas Opportunity Assessment, call
Smart Ideas at (888)-806-2273 or email SmartIdeasBiz@
ComEd.com.
ABOUT COMED’S SMART IDEAS FOR YOUR BUSINESS PROGRAM
Smart Ideas for Your Business offers cash incentives, technical services and whole-building solutions to help businesses
use energy more efficiently. For more information, visit www.ComEd.com/BizIncentives, call (888)-806-2273 during
normal business hours to speak with a Smart Ideas representative or email us at SmartIdeasBiz@ComEd.com.
Smart Ideas® is funded by ComEd customers in compliance with Illinois Public act 95-0481.
© Commonwealth Edison Company, 2012