Burger King has equipped its first energy-efficient restaurant, opened in early June in Waghäusel, Germany, with LED lighting from Everlight Electronics Co., Ltd. [TSE:2393].

LED lights in Burger King parking lot

The new eco-friendly restaurant design adopted by Burger King utilizes state-of the-art technologies, while renewable energy provides one-third of the restaurant’s energy consumption.

Lighting plays a key role; long-lasting interior and exterior LED bulbs save more than 55 percent of energy consumption annually compared to traditional lighting methods.

SL-Dolphin lighting pattern

Outdoor

The parking area is illuminated by six 60W SL-Dolphin street lights in neutral white with Phoenix lighting pattern (see chart) featuring a luminous flux of ca. 6000 lm and a color temperature of 5000 K. The asymmetric wide-view angle ensures high uniformity at pole heights of 6-8m and therefore is ideally suited for parking and roadway applications, says Everlight.

Existing Everlight SL-Dolphin lights are now being shipped with a patented electronic ballast—developed and produced—in Germany that has various dimming options, a life span up to eight times compared to other LED street light solutions or conventional street lights, a high-temperature protection mechanism and an efficiency of 93 percent.

Interior lamps use Everlight’s A-Lamp

Indoor

The restaurant’s guest area is equipped with red interior lights in Italian design using Everlight’s A-Lamp replacement LED lamp as the light source. This implementation, realized by German company E2, features a high uniformity of illumination due to the A-Lamp’s glare-free light distribution.

The eight LEDs cannot be seen from the outside, resulting in a pleasant lighting effect resembling that of a frosted light bulb. The A-Lamp’s power consumption of 7.5 W is more than 50 percent less than the 18W of an energy-saving lamp with a comparable luminance.

Borealis LED products protect us and our surroundings by eliminating the damaging UV and IR radiation associated with traditional lighting. There is no warm-up time, with instant-on full light output, no flickering and constant, stable color. Designed with dimming capabilities and able to fit into standard fixtures, Borealis has simplified the migration to LED lighting.

Additional Reasons:

1. ENERGY EFFICIENCY: LEDs consume 75 to 90% less energy than standard incandescent light bulbs, saving you money on your power bill month after month.

2. LONG LIFE: The typical life of an LED is 100,000 hours or nearly 11 ½ years of continuous use, making LED ideal for installation in locations that are difficult to access.

3. RELIABILITY: An LED is encased in virtually unbreakable high strength resin. There is no glass or filament to break making LED perfect for environments where temperature extremes, shock and vibration occur.

4. ECONOMIC: Despite their initial price, the use of LED lighting can offer significant savings in the long term, particularly in terms of reduced energy and maintenance costs. When compared to standard incandescent lamps, LEDs will pay for themselves many times over in energy savings alone.

5. SAFETY AND SECURITY: LEDs produce little or no heat and operate at low voltages making them a far safer source of light. No glass to break and no hot filaments.

View Our line of LED Lighting Products here:

• Borealis® A19 LED Lamps
• Borealis® B10 LED Lamps
• Borealis® MR16 LED Lamps
• Borealis®Par38 LED Lamps
• Borealis® R20 LED Lamps
• Borealis®T8 LED Light Tube

Millennium will offer the new Borealis® line of LED lamps including patented A19, B10, PAR38, R20, MR16, T8, Panel and Street Lights, High and Low Bay lighting in a variety of color temperatures. The Borealis brand utilizes PolyBrite’s proprietary polymer technology, and achieves maximum brightness, unparalleled performance, and unrivaled light quality. The Borealis line is designed with dimming capabilities and fit into standard fixtures.

Borealis® LED products consume up to 90% less energy than traditional lighting with no radiant heat or Ultraviolet Rays (UV). Providing at least 50,000 hours of operation, Borealis lamps are virtually unbreakable and shock resistant resulting is a significant reduction on energy consumption, maintenance and recycling cost without compromising the quality of light and the environment.

“PolyBrite is delighted to appoint Millennium as a stocking distributor for Borealis® LED products. Our agreement strengthens our distribution channels within the lighting industry,” said Carl Scianna, President and CEO for PolyBrite International. “Millennium will stock Borealis products in-house, and provide customers with their highly regarded customer service when purchasing PolyBrite’s Borealis LED products.”

“Our customers will now have the option of using a safe lighting alternative to environmentally taxing Incandescent and Fluorescent lighting.” said Dave Goldberg, Chief Operating Officer of Millennium Visual Systems. “Our agreement with PolyBrite follows our company’s ongoing commitment to earth conscious practices.” Mr. Goldberg further noted that “At Millennium we are deeply committed to providing earth friendly, energy efficient products to promote living a “green” lifestyle.”

About PolyBrite International: PolyBrite International, Inc. has established itself as an innovative global LED lighting technology company since 1995. PolyBrite designs, develops and maintains complete control in manufacturing solid-state lighting products, creating LED lamps, Street Lighting, Panel and Tube Lighting and complete Signage lighting systems under its Borealis® Lighting brand. The Borealis brand of products utilizes PolyBrite’s proprietary polymer technology and patent pending designs, bringing the energy efficiency, environmental sustainability and economic advantages of LED technology to the marketplace. More information on PolyBrite’s Borealis brand of products is available on the Internet at www.polybrite.com or www.borealislighting.com or by calling 1-800-320-3801.

About Millennium Visual Systems: Headquartered in Woodcliff Lake, NJ with business operations in Chestnut Ridge, NY, Millennium Visual Systems designs, produces, sells, and services electronic signs, programmable displays, LED bulbs and emergency lighting that is widely used in government, schools, hospitals, offices, factories, restaurants and retail businesses. Millennium is nationally known for their reputation of delivering quality, reliable products, supported by a high level of professionalism to ensure customer satisfaction. For more information on Millennium’s line of LED products call (845) 356-4100 or visit at www.millenniumvisuals.com, Facebook, Twitter, or Linkedin.

# # #

For more information contact:
Tula Kareotes, Marketing Coordinator
PolyBrite International
630-717-6700
tula@polybrite.com
www.polybrite.com

Megan Sheehan, Creative Director
Millennium Visual Systems
845-356-4100
ms@millenniumvisuals.com
www.millenniumvisuals.com

LED luminaires are extremely complex relative to legacy lighting technologies and the industry has struggled with an accurate way to rate the lifetime of such solid-state-lighting (SSL) products. The DOE has published a new recommendation for testing and reporting LED luminaire lifetime that accounts both for failure attributable to declining light output or lumen maintenance, and to catastrophic failure of the luminaire.

The new “LED Luminaire Lifetime: Recommendations for Testing and Reporting” guide recommends that luminaire makers specify an F rating for catastrophic failures – for example F10 at 30,000 hours would imply that 10% of the luminaires in a given population would fail catastrophically by 30,000 hours of usage.

DOE Lighting Program Manager Jim Brodrick mentioned the report in his weekly Postings newsletter writing, “Longevity is considered one of SSL’s major advantages over traditional lighting technologies, and manufacturers are quite naturally touting it as a big selling point. But the topic is extremely complicated.” Indeed both LED manufacturers and luminaire makers need a way to accurately define lifetime. Moreover, buyers need accurate information to justify SSL purchases and calculate accurate payback windows.

The new recommendation builds on the L and B ratings that originated with Philips Lumileds. First lumen maintenance was defined with a figure such as L70 at 50,000 hours implying that an SSL product would decline to 70% of its initial light output after 50,000 hours of usage – essentially reaching the end of its useful life. The B figure was added such that L70/B50 at 50,000 hours implies that 50% of a population of lights reach the L70 point in 50,000 hours.

The L and B specifications were first targeted at lumen maintenance at the LED component level. LED brightness can decline based on age, drive current, and operating temperature. Indeed, LED makers such as Philips provide L and B specifications relative to current and temperature.

Shortest of L/B and F specifications is figure of merit for lifetime rating

Luminaire makers must provide fixture level specifications based on the entire system. The L and B luminaire ratings must account for lumen maintenance and for catastrophic failure of one or more individual LEDs. Luminaire designs based on arrays of LEDs can suffer individual LED failures without falling below an L70 spec.

L and B ratings at the luminaire level have not accounted for catastrophic failures. Such failures would not likely be due to LED failure but rather to failed drive electronics, failed solder joint or other problem. A simple component such as an electrolytic capacitor can cause a catastrophic failure.

The DOE recommendation actually identifies 12 reliability considerations that could contribute to a catastrophic failure lifetime rating including electrical connections, printed circuit boards, thermal elements, the drive electronics and more. The F rating should account for all of the considerations.

The DOE further recommends that luminaire makers choose the shortest life rating between L/B and F specifications as the one used in a luminaire lifetime rating. For example, if a luminaire L70/B50 point is 50,000 hours and the F10 point is 40,000 hours then the luminaire maker should report a lifetime of 40,000 hours.

The new report was developed by a working group under the guidance of the DOE SSL Quality Advocates program. The group was formed jointly by the DOE and the Next Generation Lighting Industry Alliance. This work follows the earlier “Reporting LED Luminaire Product Performance” report that led to the Lighting Facts label.

Of course defining a way to specify lifetime still doesn’t solve the inexact science of determining actual numbers. As Brodrick noted in his newsletter, products rated for 50,000 hours can’t be actually tested in real time. And the fast-paced SSL industry will result in new components, drive electronics, and other changes long before a single product makes it through a six-year, 50,000-hour deployment. So luminaire and LED makers must extrapolate the lifetime ratings.

Hence the interest in LEDs. Philips is noting it had to call in the scientists to perfect the “remote phosphor” technology (the magic that makes these units glow in soft white colors) in the new white LEDs inside the Endura bulbs, as well as working to get the optical light-casting performance of the bulbs up to standard. The resulting units are suitably high-tech looking, and each can “deliver up to 80% energy savings and last 25 times longer than its century-old predecessor.” Each unit will cost much more than its glass and filament 60W incandescent ancestor, but a lifespan of some 25,000 hours (three years permanently lit, or about 10 years or so of “normal” use) combined with the electricity savings you’ll make will compensate for the price.

Here’s an example of an office building that has been converted to 100% LED light. The new bulbs consume 48% less energy than those they replaced (mostly fluorescents lights). The workplace in question is the headquarters of Cree, a company in North Carolina that specializes solid-state LED lights. The parking lots, entryways, lobby and conference rooms at Cree’s headquarters are now lit by eco-effective XLamp LEDs. Even the high-pressure sodium parking lights and spotlights were converted to LED lights.

Cree wanted to demonstrate that LED lights are a viable option today for businesses and residences. The company claims that their lights render the same type of light that is produced by fluorescents or incandescents. It looks like the LEDs in the photo above are producing a full-spectrum light.

When LEDs replace incandescent bulbs, there is also the added advantage of reducing AC requirements in the summer.

The only method of lighting more energy efficient than LEDs is daylighting (e.g. through the use of sun tubes, for example).

In the United States alone, more than 425 million 60 watt lamps are sold every year, which accounts for 50% of the incandescent bulb market. Philips calculates that converting these to LED could potentially save 32.6 terawatt hours of electricity annually – enough energy to power the lighting in 16.7 million homes.

In response to the most common complaint about LED’s, that they do not throw the same kind of light as incandescent lamps, Philips used an innovative design and remote phosphor technology to deliver the same soft white light consumers are accustomed to. The bulb also works with standard dimmers, addressing another common customer concern.

The importance of developing an LED equivalent to the 60 watt has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE), who created the L-prize competition to spur innovative development in this space. To date Philips is the only entrant in the contest, and while the EnduraLED is built on that prototype, the commercial version does not meet the 10 watt target outlined in the contest. The bulb will be available to consumers in the fourth quarter of 2010, although pricing is not available at this time.

In a similar announcement, just last month GE unveiled their LED replacement for the 40 watt incandescent bulb, which uses 9 watts of energy and is expected out late 2010 or early 2011.

Millennium Visual Systems recently attended the 2010 Lightfair International show as well and will soon be adding a broad selection of LED bulbs to our product line. Stay tuned for updates! And checkout our most recent LED bulb additions for general lighting and specialized needs.

POUGHKEEPSIE – When the lights are turned on at the Walkway Over the Hudson next weekend, they will be the latest addition to the engineering marvel. The new lights, which are energy efficient, will light the bridge for nighttime visitors.

The Walkway, the state’s latest park – a linear park that crosses the Hudson River from Highland to Poughkeepsie, will be lit by 81,215 LED lights designed by Andy Neal’s Poughkeepsie company, ANL.

“This is literally a mile and a quarter long, single set of tubes. It’s a one inch diameter tubular LED array that stretches from the Highland side to the Poughkeepsie side,” Neal said.

The lights were fabricated by people at the Mid-Hudson Workshop in Poughkeepsie. LEDs use 90 percent less energy than incandescent bulbs. The Walkway light components were made by Fala Technology at The Solar Energy Consortium in Kingston.

The $475,000 to pay for the lighting system was secured through Congress by Rep. Maurice Hinchey.

The Walkway, which opened last October, has drawn hundreds of thousands of visitors.

Located in downtown Mexico City, Torre Reforma, a 46 story mixed-used development, will sit across the street from Torre Mayor. A historic gothic-style building, which currently exists on the site will be dismantled and rebuilt on the corner of the site and underneath the tower. Inside, the tower will have restaurants, retail, 18 floors of apartments and 26 floors of office space. The tower is currently under construction and is expected to be completed in late 2011.

Halfway up the tower, a two story garden resides in the heart of the building and acts as a vertical park for residents and employees. Floor to ceiling glazing will reveal the park to the exterior and afford views to those inside. On the upper levels, the structural cross bracing membranes, which help stabilize during an earthquake, are visible. The south side of the tower is wedge-shaped and covered in photovoltaic panels to produce power for the building. At night, windows are automatically opened at night to help flush heat from the building. LBR&A Arquitectos has designed the eco tower in hopes of achieving LEED Platinum certification, which will hopefully spur on more green building projects in Latin America.

Light-emitting diode lamps have long been known for their efficiency, but due to high prices they have been mostly restricted to expensive industrial and consumer goods like billboards, TVs and automobile lights.

But yesterday Philips, the Dutch electronics company, announced it would begin selling LED bulbs at the local discount chain E-mart.

Branded “Ambient LED,” the lights work in sockets for incandescent or halogen lights. Ambient LEDs last 45 times longer than incandescent bulbs. Replace one incandescent light with an LED, and it can cut 30 kilograms of carbon dixiode emissions per year, the same as planting a tree.

“With hopes of introducing high-quality lighting to consumers, we are offering LED lights at a very competitive price,” said Kim Yun-yeong, vice president of the company’s light division.

Ambient LEDs are priced around 20,000 won ($18), about half the cost of previous varieties.

LG Electronics also began selling LEDs for homes in February. The Seoul-based company announced yesterday that it received a certification from the Korea Energy Management Corporation for the product’s exceptionally high energy efficiency.

Compatible with halogen sockets, LG LEDs can be used for 12 hours daily for 10 years and cost 34,000 won.

“We plan to accelerate our LED light business in the coming days by introducing eco-friendly bulbs different from other lights,” said Kim Yong-hwan, director of the company’s solution business team.

LG plans to use those lights at its Yeouido headquarters when they are renovated this year.

Samsung Electronics, meanwhile, is adopting a wait-and-see approach, still uncertain whether LEDs will succeed in the consumer market. Samsung has been making LEDs for industrial purposes since 2007.

“We are still looking into it,” said Lee Jun-ho, a manager on Samsung’s LED business unit.

“There are a lot of things to consider, such as at what specifications and price will work best in the consumer market.”