The Ronald McDonald House of Durham, North Carolina (RMHD) is opening its doors to even more families with a newly renovated facility which features nearly 150 LED luminaires from Cree, Inc. (Nasdaq: CREE). The addition of Cree LED lighting supports the RMHD mission of providing a comfortable, warm, home-like atmosphere for critically ill children and their families, while also saving energy and money.
 
The expansion will take the house from 29 to 55 bedrooms and features a large kitchen, community room, school room and library to serve children being treated at Duke Pediatric Hospital. Each year the RMHD in Durham hosts more than 1,000 families — providing a safe and caring “home away from home” that lets families focus on their health and well-being.
 
“Cree LED lighting helps bring the comforts of home to families facing immense emotional and physical challenges,” said Oie Osterkamp, executive director, Ronald McDonald House of Durham. “The newly renovated house provides a safe environment to alleviate some of these challenges. The upgrade to LED lighting was a no-brainer for the Ronald McDonald House and provided the opportunity to update the inefficient lighting system from the original 1960’s-style building into modern times.”
 
According to RMHD, the newly installed Cree® LED lighting, including CR Series LED troffers and CR Series LED downlights, provides energy and maintenance savings estimated at nearly 65 percent over the previously planned fluorescent lighting solution. The savings from installing LED lighting can provide the facility with opportunities to allocate valuable resources to other areas of the organization.
 
“We’re pleased to not only provide energy-efficient LED lighting products for the Ronald McDonald House of Durham, but also to support the expansion of this invaluable local resource allowing more families to be supported by RMHD,” said Greg Merritt, vice president, corporate marketing, Cree.