New Center Stamping is renovating its facility on Milwaukee near I-75 as a way to significantly cut its overhead expenses. The automotive service parts manufacturer is switching out its older, inefficient lighting with some new fluorescent and LED lights.
"We're replacing 1,000 watts with 400 watts," says Doug Braun, environmental manager for
New Center Stamping. "It will probably cut our light bill by 60 percent or more because each light will have a motion sensor on it."
New Center Stamping operates out of a 220,000-square-foot industrial space built in the 1930s. The company is spending $250,974 ($62,744 comes from a SmartBuilding's grant from the city of Detroit) to switch out older 300-plus incandescent lights on its factory floor, replacing them with fluorescent lights. Another 40 exterior lights will be replaced with LED lights.
About two-thirds of the interior lights are done and the entire project is expected to be wrapped up by mid March. The company will also replace some windows to gain some more energy efficiency.
"We got involved in this project by trying to clamp down on some of our expenses, like electric and heat," Braun says.
Source: Doug Braun, environmental manager for New Center Stamping
Writer: Jon Zemke
Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.