After growing tired of assigning employees to lamp replacement work more than twice a week, semiconductor material manufacturer Axcelis Technologies, Beverly, Mass., recently upgraded its plant lighting with a Williams GL lighting system. The move reduced energy use for the facility by 41.5%, improved light levels by 17%, and earned the company a $48,000 utility rebate.
Plant engineer Paul Donhauser had tested out a metal-halide lamp with a double containment that eliminated the potential for overheating and fire – a problem that initiated the search for the new system – but settled on the Williams lights after testing them out and presenting his analysis to his director of operations.
“Our analysis of the lighting system offered a number of benefits to Axcelis,” Donhauser says. “The new lighting would be shadow free, creating a more positive work environment for the employees, and lamp depreciation would be significantly reduced so I would be able to apply the man hours previously assigned to lighting maintenance to other work without having to add staff.”
The system consists of 300 low-profile luminaires with four 54W T5 HO fluorescent lamps that provide 70 fc. The lamps are mounted 18 ft above the floor on 18-ft x 15-ft centers.
