Marriott International gets an LED upgrade inside and out

Installing GE Lighting LED solutions at its Bethesda, Maryland headquarters will save Marriott International 860,000 kWh of electricity and more than $120,000 in combined energy and maintenance costs each year. The installation included nearly 45 acres - or 185,000 m² - of parking and garage space and eight floors of internal lighting.

Marriott says the installation has enriched lighting quality, heightened employee security and improved energy efficiency.

Security and energy efficiency were key to Marriott’s choice of GE’s Evolve LED lighting systems for its exterior lighting. Marriott tested competitive exterior garage fixtures, parking lot lights and contemporary post tops before selecting Evolve.

The revamped Marriott parking lot.

“We preferred the exceptional output and uniformity of GE’s Evolve LED lighting,” said Jim Young, Vice President, Corporate Facilities for Marriott International. “GE performed a comprehensive lighting audit of our existing system, provided photometric analysis with 3D renderings of the new system and forecasted our energy and maintenance savings. GE excelled as both a trusted strategic consultant and solutions provider.”

Marriott installed more than 230 Evolve LED Area Lights for its outdoor lots and nearly 400 Evolve LED Garage Light fixtures, several Evolve LED Tunnel Light installations and GE T8 fluorescent lamps. The outdoor fittings alone will cut energy consumption by 580,000 kWh each year - saving the company $70,000 in utility cost savings.

“Our LED area lights consume between 97 and 220 watts and were designed to replace traditional 400- to 1000-watt high-intensity discharge (HID) systems that can spill and waste light,” said Steve Briggs, Vice President of Product Management and Marketing for GE Lighting Solutions.

GE’s ProSys Lighting Control system reduces light output to garages when empty, increasing it to 100% when motion is detected. It also interfaces with Marriott’s surveillance system to improve security, alerting guards when movement is detected after hours and focusing security cameras on areas of movement.

Inside Marriott’s headquarters, GE replaced 1000 65-watt bulbs with 7-watt LED PAR20 lamps in the hallways. The 12 90-watt foyer lights, which had previously needed replacing once a year, were replaced with 20-watt LED PAR38 lamps that are rated for 50,000 hours of use.

The auditorium lighting was overhauled, with 140 GE 12-watt LED BR30 lamps providing a fully dimmable system with higher light levels and better light uniformity. The building’s lower level was refitted with 72 GE Lumination Recessed LED Troffers. These slim fixtures blend in with the ceiling when switched off, producing an even glow when illuminated.

The ‘Marriott’ sign at the headquarters entrance was upgraded with Tetra PowerStrip LED lighting that reduces maintenance cycles from two to three times per year to once every five to 10 years.

The Marriott sign also received an LED upgrade.

Simply by updating its lighting with LED systems, Marriott’s annual electricity use will decrease by 66%. Energy expense will be reduced by about $104,000 and maintenance savings are expected to be around $120,000 each year. Based on combined electricity, maintenance and labour reductions, the payback period for the lighting project is just over two years.

“Marriott has demonstrated its commitment to minimising the environmental impact of its business operations many times throughout this project,” said Briggs. “For GE it’s been a source of great pride to help Marriott achieve its goal of reducing energy consumption by 25% per available room by 2017.”