Establishments around the world are realizing the potential energy and maintenance savings associated with LED technology. Eco-responsibility is proving that it is not just a passing fad. Countries all over the world, including the United States, have created programs and incentives for companies switching to LED technologies. In fact, the European Union began a ban of incandescent bulbs in September 2009. Sources predict that by the year 2016, incandescent lighting will be completely phased out of commercial and residential settings to make room for more energy efficient lighting, namely LEDs. Cell phones, DVDs, CDs, and MP3s have all popularized this technology years ago. It was only a matter of time before LED lighting was paid proper attention. For restaurants, LEDs benefit include 90% less energy consumption, no radiant heat or UV, no mercury or hazardous materials and useful life that is double that of traditional sources.

Aside from opting for eco-responsible products being a good business practice, it also does wonders for a restaurant’s finances. As all business owners know, costs have a direct and significant impact on an institution’s bottom line. In an economic downturn companies often have to cut corners to cut costs. Fortunately, LED technology makes it possible to upgrade and save money. One bulb uses 90% less energy than traditional sources. This has huge implications for any restaurant that has a substantial utility bill. They are able to cut their utility bill to 10% and actually benefits associated with eco-responsibility and reduction in energy consumption. In addition, LED bulbs lasts 10 times longer than fluorescent. This means LEDs virtually eliminate the cost of maintenance for over 10 years after installation. In addition, LED lighting gives off substantially less heat, reducing air conditioning costs.

Companies all over the world have taken advantage of LED technology. Macy’s has one of the historically biggest plans for LED lighting in their stores. By replacing a 75W bulb with a new 10W LED bulb, they are on tract to save $45,585,056 in the first year, alone. McDonalds and Dunkin Doughnuts have switched lighting, signs, and menu board lighting to LED technology to become more efficient.

In addition to all the financial benefits there are to switching to LED technology, the switch can have some great implications for the restaurant’s environment and the environment at large. Most importantly, LED technology does not contain Mercury or other hazardous materials that would be harmful in any environment and especially food service.

For more information about LED technology please feel free to call Dave Goldberg at Millennium Visual Systems, (845) 356-4100.

Outdone by an tower extending over 800 meters in Dubai, the world’s former tallest building, Taipei 101, wants to become the highest green structure by completing a checklist of clean energy standards, a spokesman said on Monday.

Taipei 101 will spend T$60 million ($1.9 million) over the next year to meet 100 criteria for an environmental certificate that it would hold over Dubai, spokesman Michael Liu said.

The office-commercial tower that reigned for five years as the world’s highest building at 509 meters (1,670 feet) expects the U.S-based Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design to give it the certificate in 2011.

“We’re focused now on becoming a Taiwan landmark, that won’t change, and on going green. We’d be the tallest building to get a green certificate,” Liu said by telephone. Taipei 101, he said, would work with its 85 office tenants to cut electricity and water use, while encouraging them to recycle more refuse. Annual utility savings should total T$20 million.

Restaurants would be asked to bring in supplies from as close as possible to reduce transportation.

“We can reduce power, trash and water by more than 10 percent,” he said. “We’re already pretty green. In principle there’s no major problem.”

The Taiwan skyscraper, complete with an observation deck popular with tourists, has already met 60 of the checklist items, including double-paned windows to retain cool air.

FlyFire: This 3-D face (left) is built of a swarm of golf-ball-sized, LED-equipped helicopters (right). MIT

Meet the next generation of art installations. Together, the SENSEable City and ARES Labs atMIT have created an adaptable, remote-controlled display comprised of dozens of robotic, flying “smart pixels.”

The concept is simple: As with any digital image, the picture is made of groups of tiny dots of varying colors that, at the right scale, appear as one large image. Now imagine the pixels in a pointillist painting like a Georges Seurat aren’t tiny flecks of paint, but thousands of miniature helicopters with varying color LEDs arranged as the image.

Flyfire, though, takes things one further by adding depth. The face of the Mona Lisa, for example, can be blown out and backward to create a 360-degree rendering of the painting.

The helicopters are about the size of a golf ball, each with a color-changing LED. It took the expertise of the ARES flying robotics lab to make small ‘copters that fly steadily enough and that can adapt quickly and with utmost precision.

Right now, Flyfire is best suited for large-scale art installations, since the ‘bots are still a bit hefty. In the future, though, smaller parts will mean smaller ‘copters and more exact displays that don’t need to take up a whole room.

Reposted from: NicerNews.com

Millennium Visual Systems made a major contirbution of programmable, LED badges to the Eatontown Elks Club of Eatontown, NJ for their use in fundraising. Millennium is pleased to join with the Lions Club in providing this support to the community.

In December 2009, Millennium similarly made a contribution to the American Red Cross in support of their community efforts.

The new 70 foot long, 30 foot high sign has the same dimensions and the same general look as its predecessor, but the neon lights have been replaced with 4,800 CFLs for the white lettering and strip LEDs for the sign’s background. The end result is a sign that is crisper, brighter, and most importantly, more efficient than the original. 100 percent of the power used by the sign is offset by wind renewable energy certificates.

Wondering how you missed the sign switchover? The whole thing happened in just four days, with the new sign in place by Christmas Eve. Almost all the metal and wiring from the original sign has since been recycled.

It’s easy to chastise Coca-Cola for not taking down the energy-intensive sign altogether, but we have to applaud the company for figuring out a way to keep an iconic advertisement without compromising its sustainable ideals.

Chestnut Ridge, NY (January 2010)- The United States Military Academy at West Point has completed the installation of a project designed by Millennium Visual Systems of Chestnut Ridge, NY.  Three LED Electronic Programmable Displays were installed at each of the three primary entrances to the base.  Each display is incorporated into a structure that matches the surrounding the granite and brick buildings that are over one hundred years old.

Millennium’s team worked with the Military Academy’s Public Relations staff to create a project that would enhance base security while increasing the ability to communicate effectively to base personnel, residents and visitors.

“West Point is home to some of the richest history that the United States has to offer. It was important to us to collaborate with officials at The Point to come up with a design that would enhance security on the base, enhance the campus and not detract from its historic roots” said Dave Goldberg, owner and CEO of Millennium Visual Systems.

For more pictures from this and other projects check out our Outdoor Gallery.

Have you had your encounter yet?

Unless you’re a complete shut-in, energy efficiency has undoubtedly penetrated your day-to-day activities in some way.

From utility bill inserts to presidential pleas, it’s hard to escape the efficiency mantra that has swept the nation — and the world.

And while small steps are helping millions of homeowners save on their energy bills, few realize the cumulative effect the trend toward efficiency is having on billion-dollar corporations and the broader public markets.

Indeed, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) has literally adopted energy efficiency, issuing the following statement after a big switch in its approach to data management:

Today’s announcement means that NYSE Technologies and Voltaire can now offer customers the lowest latency and most energy efficient solution for accelerating market data applications. The performance and cost savings this solution provides is critical for financial services firms that rely on speed and performance to gain competitive advantage but also need to keep a close eye on data center power requirements and spending.

Obviously, the NYSE paid Voltaire for its services, as have numerous other companies looking to lower the power bill associated with data storage and processing. That’s what I mean by the ‘cumulative effect’ of the trend toward efficiency…

The companies providing the solutions stand to make a killing. Look what Voltaire returned to investors as it racked up contracts in the IT efficiency space:

And that’s just one company in one small sub-sector of energy efficiency. There are plenty more companies offering equally impressive gains as the layers of energy efficiency are peeled away.

Profiting From the Energy Efficiency Onion

If you think about efficiency as an onion, there are many layers from which to profit, some easily identifiable and others more hidden.

In addition to data storage efficiency, investors can profit from efficient lighting, cogeneration, insulation, smart glass, digital meters, smart thermostats, Energy Star appliances, and so on. And that’s just off the top of my head.

The business world is currently in a frenzy to reduce energy usage, led by policy, incentives, and shareholder demand. Companies realize they can improve their bottom lines — and, therefore, value for shareholders — by reducing operational costs. And they’re willing to pay upfront to do so.

Last week, I touched on the efforts of giant corporations like Wal-Mart, Johnson & Johnson, and Morgan Stanley to streamline their operations and reduce energy costs. Each example represented a unique layer of the efficiency onion… and each one had a unique profit angle for investors.

But this trend is only now embarking on a years-long journey.

PepsiCo just announced that seven of its plants went to zero waste in 2009 as part of the company’s goal to shrink its footprint worldwide. Not sending tons of garbage to the dump adds to the bottom line.

And UPS recently added 245 compressed natural gas trucks to its fleet, bringing the total up to 1,900. Paying less to fuel a fleet of trucks adds to the bottom line.

Those are two more examples of efficiency layers. Of course, there are plenty more. But to drive home the point, take a look at the plays that benefit when Pepsi produces less waste or UPS adopts CNG vehicles:

Westport Innovations (NASDAQ: WPRT) develops heavy engines that run on natural gas and Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ: CWST) offers solid waste management and recycling services. Expect these efficiency-related sectors to gain even more attention as fleets and factories try to optimize their operations.

Low-Hanging Layers

Right now, the low-hanging layers of the efficiency onion are being peeled away: replacing old diesel trucks, improving energy-hungry data centers, etc.

But there is plenty more to come. Nearly every building and electronic device on the planet is a target for efficiency. There are plenty of companies ready to make it happen… and they’ll be profiting — as will their shareholders — for years to come.

An easy way to get in on the action is to buy the First Trust Smart Grid Infrastructure Index Fund (NASDAQ: GRID). It’ll give you access to dozens of companies making money by making the use of energy more efficient.

For a more concentrated way to profit from this trend, you’ll want to read my new report on the one company that could triple as its sales explode, thanks to the efficiency trend. Those who got on-board early have doubled their money in just a few weeks time…

But there’s much more to come as this company’s unique energy-saving device is installed in millions of homes across the country.

Call it like you see it,

Nick

Originally Posted on www.energyandcapital.com

If you made the switch from traditional energy-sucking holiday lights to efficient LED ones this year, we applaud you. But we also know that they aren’t the cheapest thing in the world. That’s why were were absolutely delighted to receive this clever tip from reader SleepySyrup that lets you leverage your LED light investment into something that can provide you with light year-round instead of just around the holidays:

“A string of LED holiday lights, combined with a two-dollar socket adapter from your local home-improvement store, can transform a lamp or overhead light into an eco-friendly light source. A 50-bulb string uses less than 5 watts of electricity, and, this time of year, they can be had for a fraction of the price of a commercial LED bulb.”

Thanks SleepySyrup! And to all of our other readers, if you have a tip that you want to see on Inhabitat, usethis form to let us know about it. Remember, sticking to our guidelines means you have a better chance at seeing your submission published.

Originally Posted on: www.inhabitat.com