U.S. Cold Storage opened a 215,000-square-foot warehouse and distribution facility in June 2008 in the new Humboldt North Industrial Park.

Last October, the company opened a 145,000-square-foot expansion to the plant that is creating 65 new jobs.

The new section has a special feature - LED (light-emitting diode) lighting that is saving the company $8,752.60 a day.

Mike Lynch, vice president for engineering for U.S. Cold Storage, said the new lights are much cheaper to operate and last longer.

"We have 484-watt, metal halide fixtures in the original part of the building," Lynch said. "In the new section, we have 162-watt LED fixtures. The metal halide fixtures cost us $92.60 each per day to light. The new fixtures cost us $10.80 per fixture, per day."

Using the LED fixtures is a no-brainer for many reasons, Lynch said.

"Using the metal halide lights means we have to not only provide the energy to light the light, but also to cool the heat it creates," he said. "About 95 percent of our facility maintains a temperature of minus-20 degrees. The big benefit with the LED fixtures is that the amount of heat it generates the amount we have to remove - is much less. And the bulbs last much longer. We got two to three years out of a conventional bulb. We believe we will get eight to 10 years out of an LED bulb."

Ryan Horvath, plant manager, said the new lights are managed by an intelligent computer system that is equipped to go on automatically when someone is working in that section of the warehouse.

"We have LED motion sensors connected to the lights," Horvath said. "When you enter an aisle, the lights go on. When you leave an aisle, they go out."

Lynch also said U.S. Cold Storage obtained $45,000 in rebates from PPL for using the LED lights.

They have been such a success that Lynch said the firm plans to replace the lights in the rest of the facility "by the end of the third quarter" this year.

Both men said Brian Hansbury, director of grants and loans for CAN DO Inc., helped the firm with the expansion after one of CAN DO's outreach visits, which the organization makes to all the plants in its industrial parks on a regular basis.

Hansbury said he introduced U.S. Cold Storage officials to the Governor's Action Team, and helped the firm obtain tax credits along with a grant for job creation and one for stormwater work along Scotch Pine Drive.

The expansion is increasing the plant's total workforce to 83. The company is taking applications for the new jobs, all of which have not yet been filled.

Lynch said the size of the expansion is "typical for our company." He also said there is an opportunity for another 250,000-square-foot expansion on the 33-acre parcel where the facility sits. The facility also has rail access, although it is not being used at present.

Horvath described the facility's mission.

"We are a third-party storage and distribution facility for food," he said. "We store and ship ice cream and other foods for a variety of companies, including Red Lobster and Olive Garden, as well as some local businesses."

Horvath said the facility has done very well since it opened.

"The logistics have worked out very well," he said, noting its location is near both interstates 80 and 81 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike's Northeast Extension (I-476).

U.S. Cold Storage is headquartered in Voorhees, N.J., and has similar facilities in a dozen states. The parent company is Swire, which has facilities in a half-dozen foreign countries, including Australia and China.

LED or fluorescent?

While LED lights provide more light and cost a lot less to use, the fixtures for fluorescent lighting cost a lot less.

But the future of commercial and industrial lighting is in LED, according to an expert.

Chris Covell, of SmartWatt - a firm that does energy audits for commercial and industrial customers - said LED lighting is improving at the quickest rate.

"It will surpass T-8 as the predominant lighting. T-8 and T-5 are fluorescent, and are the cheapest. But LED is the newest," he said.

When Simona America, which manufactures and distributes thermoplastic products from its Hazleton facility, completed an upgrade of all interior lights, they used T-5 and T-8 fluorescent lighting.

Simona President Ron Denoo said the light fixtures were cheaper.

"The up-front costs for LED lighting is quite a bit more expensive," Denoo said. "We are very happy with the results."

Bob Szumilo, project engineer/process engineer at EAM Mosca Corp. in the Valmont Industrial Park, said the facility - which manufactures shipping strapping and the equipment to produce it - said in a cost-saving move, the facility was recently converted to T-8 lighting, including motion sensors to turn off lights in unoccupied places.

Szumilo also said LED lights go on almost instantly, while fluorescent lights take a few seconds to "warm up."

Denoo said the new high-efficiency lights at the 180,000-square-foot Simona facility have slashed the energy requirement for lighting by 60 percent versus the previous light fixtures, and will reduce the amount of energy required by 601,514 kilowatt-hours per year.

The lighting retrofit is equivalent to an annual reduction of 902,000 pounds of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, or removing 62 cars from the road.

In addition to the state-of-the-art lights, motion sensors were installed in several areas of Simona's plant and office to further reduce energy demands.

"This project is in perfect alignment with Simona' s culture and long history of environmental awareness," Denoo said. "Sustainability in our production methods is one of our strategic initiatives."

Denoo noted that the project was beneficial for the company's processes as well, as the whiteness of the light makes it easier to assess product quality.

Simona officials undertook the project with the help and advice of CAN DO, the area's industrial and economic development group, which has established the CAN DO Energy Solutions program to help industries reduce energy consumption and costs through the use of a pre-screened provider network and to help companies finance their energy efficiency projects through federal, state and private funding sources.

Simona officials learned more about CAN DO Energy Solutions during a seminar, then worked with one of the program's certified providers, H.T. Lyons of Allentown, which hired GreenTech Energy Services of Maple Shade, N.J., to complete the project.

"The seminar provided an excellent starting point for Simona as we began considering energy-efficiency projects for our facility," Denoo said.

"Since energy is an area where small and mid-sized companies can benefit from assistance, CAN DO Energy Solutions is a very valuable program to industries in Greater Hazleton. Knowing that all providers in the program had already been vetted streamlined the process for us and gave us confidence going forward."