U-Haul Company’s Technical Center (Tempe, AZ) is where research, design, engineering, testing and assembly take place for all U-Haul trucks and trailers. The center is more than 90,000 square-feet of offices, repair shops, test labs and assembly lines. Since the 1980’s old, inefficient fluorescent lighting and other outdated lighting fixtures that consume significant amounts of energy have been used in order to provide enough light for daily operations. In 2013 U-Haul conducted an energy audit of the Tech Center and implemented a complete lighting makeover to improve the lighting conditions while simultaneously reducing energy consumption and cost!
The interior of the Technical Center is now lit with brighter and more energy-efficient lighting. The new lighting in the office areas uses fewer lights per fixture, significantly reducing energy consumption. The repair shops, test labs and other work areas now have better and brighter light, improving visibility and safety for those working to build U-Haul equipment. The results speak for themselves!
Further, the new lighting has had positive impact on the Technical Center’s building maintenance. The Building Maintenance Manager, Gary Kostelny had worked at the Tech Center for nearly 20 years under the old lighting. When asked if he thought the makeover was an improvement he stated, “I am very happy with the lighting project. In the office areas, we have better lighting with half the fluorescent tubes we had before. The shop areas are much brighter now and using less energy. Another benefit we now have is we need to have only one type of fluorescent tube on hand for replacement. Previously, we had four or five different types of tubes.”
Most importantly the U-Haul Technical Center is now saving more than 400,000 kilowatt-hours every year. That’s enough electricity to power 40 average-sized homes a year (epa.gov)! There was 3132 lamps before and 2497 lamps once the project was complete. Energy Management at U-Haul does not end here. We are committed to saving energy system-wide and ensuring our consumption is efficient and not wasted. When energy is saved it reduces overhead costs, providing more opportunity for U-Haul to keep its commitment to its customers in providing the best service and quality products at very affordable rates.
What are you doing to keep your home or business energy-efficient? Let us know in the comments below!
