NEW energy efficient lighting has cut the Kennedy Centre's electricity bill by a third it has been revealed.
After 26 years the popular west Belfast shopping centre has upgraded its lighting after work was carried out by Energia.
The Energy provider's improvements have made the centre more efficient and cost effective, with the payback period estimated to be just over 18 months.
Since opening in 1991 the Kennedy Centre was using old and inefficient lighting for its foyers, basement carpark and toilets.
Energia, who have a Belfast office, worked with the centre’s management team and their lighting supplier carried out a test run, upgrading some of the old lighting system to new LEDs. When this proved a success, a full upgrade took place. The lighting systems were upgraded, saving over 362,117 kilowatt hours of electricity.
The work was carried out under Energia’s 'Cash for Kilowatts' scheme that provides grant funding to companies for energy efficiency projects. The grant is open to all businesses, whether or not they are customers of Energia. Since the initiative began Energia has supported over 1000 projects around Northern Ireland, which which have lifetime savings of £246 million on electricity bills.
Centre manager John Jones says the improvements have improved safety.
“The old lighting systems meant that some areas were poorly lit and it was difficult to regularly replace the bulbs, lighting was uneven across the centre.”
“Not only have we cut our energy costs significantly, the LEDs in the basement car park are a significant improvement – shoppers feel safer returning to their cars. The new lighting in the foyers has also made the centre more vibrant overall.”
Janine O'Donnell from Energia added:
“The Kennedy Centre is following a wide range of businesses by making its operations more energy efficient. By working with us on energy efficiency schemes they can save significant amounts of money on their energy bills and reduce their carbon footprint.”
