Yahoo! teamed up with Energy Industries to create a long-term lighting solution for their Sunnyvale parking garage.

The existing lighting system at the Sunnyvale parking garage consisted of high wattage metal-halide fixtures. Energy Industries engaged a lighting manufacturer to create a customized bi-level fixture just for the Sunnyvale parking garage. The fixture uses one T8 lamp while in standby mode and illuminates an additional T5 high-output lamp when fully lit. An integrated occupancy sensor determines when the fixtures switch from standby to full illumination mode.

To achieve even greater energy savings, the occupancy sensors were also connected to photocells that adjust light levels according to the daylight entering the garage.  The new system reduced the electricity consumption by 80% when in standby mode and by 40% when fully lit. As an added benefit, the new lighting system is brighter than the old system when fully lit.

Yahoo!’s new lighting system uses 46,500 kWh annually, compared to 198,000 kWh used by the old lighting system – a savings of 75%. Realizing nearly $23,000 a year in electricity bill savings means that Yahoo! will recapture its investment in less than three years.