The Lighting Energy Efficiency in Parking (LEEP) Campaign was launched at the end of September to offer guidance and recognition to parking lot and parking facility owners interested in implementing lighting redesigns or retrofits that will cut their energy usage.
To become part of the campaign, parking facility owners submit their project information online at LEEPcampaign.org. The deadline for submitting reports is January 2014. Any project started after 2010 and completed before November 2013 is eligible. LEEP will award recognition to participants in various categories, announcing the winners in February 2014. Awards will be based on:
- highest savings at a single site: retrofit or new construction
- highest percentage savings at a single site: retrofit or new construction
- best use of controls
- largest number of sites upgraded
- largest portfolio-wide energy savings
- largest percentage of sites upgraded
If a company is selected for a possible award, the LEEP campaign needs to verify savings, either through existing metering onsite if available, or through spot measurements.
The LEEP Campaign goal is to to have 100 million square feet of parking space to use roughly 1/3 less energy compared to standard 90.1-2010. That, says the organization, will equal the annual electricity use of almost 4,500 homes or annual greenhouse gas emissions from almost 7,000 passenger vehicles. State-of-the-art lighting technologies can last up to five times longer than traditional outdoor lights. They quickly pay for themselves by cutting energy costs up to 70% and maintenance costs up to 90%.