Leed Lighting Credits

CALMAC is First HVAC Manufacturing Facility in New Jersey to Obtain LEED Gold ...

FAIR LAWN, N.J.--( EON: Enhanced Online News )-- CALMAC , a leader in energy storage systems, today announced it has received LEED® Gold Certification for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance (EB:O&M) at its Fair Lawn, New Jersey, headquarters. CALMAC is the first HVAC manufacturing facility in the state to obtain LEED Gold. Contributing to making this possible was CALMAC’s IceBank® thermal energy storage system, installed in 2009, which had lowered on-peak demand and cooling costs by 33 percent.

Prior to applying for LEED certification, CALMAC regularly incorporated green practices on all its factory upgrades. During earlier remodeling, CALMAC was able to utilize more sustainable materials and resources, cut its on-peak energy demand by 33 percent and reduce usage energy by 27 percent by a combination of measures, including factory lighting retrofit, process heat recovery units and the IceBank Storage system. Building materials such as recycled carpet, bamboo cabinetry and walls and ENERGY STAR appliances were also used.

To obtain the LEED EB:O&M certification, CALMAC enlisted YRG Sustainability Consultants to help manage the process and keep things running smoothly. CALMAC implemented new green policies and procedures as well as installed many energy-saving technologies, new lighting controls and zoning, reflective roof paint, consolidated transformers and low-volume flush toilets.

“Going through the LEED process enabled us to analyze our energy usage at our office and manufacturing plant, and using quantitative data, allowed us to ensure we were as efficient as possible,” said Mark MacCracken, CEO of CALMAC. “Our biggest discovery was finding out that a machine in the plant was using 2/3 of the entire facility’s energy use. As a result of the LEED process we were able to make plans to install larger heat reclaim units to significantly reduce energy use.

LED Lighting Tax Aspects of Furniture Chains | Housing Design

The 2008 collapse of the U.S. housing market had a particularly damaging effect on the domestic furniture industry. A virtual freeze on new and existing home purchases resulted in a drastic decline in sales for furniture chains who, prior to the collapse, dominated the industry primarily by selling foreign-made furniture. The furniture industry has largely evolved into an import model where huge warehouses store the furniture that is then sold in retail show rooms. Some major brands use large, warehouse-like structures as their retail facilities. As the economy continues to improve, these companies will be able to realize significant energy cost savings and very large EPAct tax deductions by installing LED lighting in their showrooms along with energy-efficient lighting and heaters in their distribution centers. Large store showrooms looking to showcase their furniture can use LED’s for focused lighting, while huge warehouses that hold the furniture before it reaches retail storefronts can realize tremendous operating cost reductions by installing LED’s or other energy-efficient lighting. While each of these building types involves a distinct planning process with different tax implications, LED lighting can drive large tax deductions for all furniture chain facilities.

Pursuant to Energy Policy Act (EPAct) Section 179D, furniture chains making qualifying energy-reducing investments in their new or existing locations can get immediate tax deductions of up to $1.80 per square foot. If the building project doesn’t qualify for the largest EPAct $1.80 per square foot immediate tax deduction, there are tax deductions of up to $0.60 per square foot for the three major building subsystems: lighting, HVAC (heating, ventilating, and air conditioning), and the building envelope. The building envelope is every item on the building’s exterior perimeter that touches the outside world including roof, walls, insulation, doors, windows and foundation.

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