Cree shines LED light on Camp Pendleton Marine Corps base

DURHAM, USA: Cree Inc. announced that more than 930 LR6 six-inch LED downlights and LR24 LED lay-in luminaries have been installed at Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base as part of an overall renovation currently underway. Located outside of San Diego, Camp Pendleton is the major West Coast base of the United States Marine Corps, serving as its prime amphibious training base for nearly 100,000 Marines.

Prior to installation, Accelerated Electric Inc., the electrical contractor for this project, and RA Burch, the general contractor, commissioned third-party testing of the Cree LR24 luminaries against the proposed linear fluorescent lighting to evaluate the amount of heat distributed and impact on air conditioning. The study found that the LED luminaires put out 44 percent less heat than the proposed fluorescents and contributed a 15 degree rise in ambient temperature rather than the 25 degree increase from fluorescents when compared to a baseline of no lighting.

"Based on the results from our model, we were able to demonstrate the efficacy of Cree LED fixtures, which use 31 percent less energy than traditional fluorescent lighting, for the Camp Pendleton installation," said William Porges, president of Accelerated Electric. "Utilizing these fixtures can significantly reduce building electrical loads and result in dramatically lowered energy costs. We also found that additional energy savings can be attributed to the decrease in air conditioning usage."

“With the increased focus on greening government facilities, Camp Pendleton is a great example of how easy it is to achieve both energy and maintenance savings with LED lighting,” said David Elien, Cree, VP, LED lighting adoption. “The energy-efficient Cree products used in this installation comply with the Buy American Act and fulfill base lighting needs while providing high-quality light, reduced maintenance and potential HVAC savings, helping Camp Pendleton join the LED Lighting Revolution.”