By James C. Elledge, IFMA Fellow, CFM, FMA, RPA, RIAQM
Published in the June 2010 issue of Today’s Facility Manager
Q How much does lighting figure into total MRO spent for commercial facilities? Is there a further breakdown for lamps, ballasts, and fixtures?
Paul Lienesch
Director, Market Strategy
Philips Lighting Co.
Somerset, NJ
A Utilities make up a substantial portion of the O&M budget. According to government data on energy consumption, the national average in 2006 was $2.32 per square foot (urban) and $2.18 per square foot (suburban). Research conducted by the International Facility Management Association (IFMA) puts the average cost at $2.27 per gross square foot. Looking only at electricity consumption, lighting is the number one user, requiring 38% of the capacity in buildings.
The Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS) maintains excellent data on the different types of energy consumed. The CBECS has data on lighting used in commercial buildings (including incandescent, standard fluorescent, compact fluorescent, halogen and high intensity discharge). It is available here.
Elledge,facility/office services manager for Dallas, TX-based Summit AllianceCompanies, is the recipient of the Distinguished Author Award from theInternational Facility Management Association (IFMA), is an IFMA Fellow, and isa member of TFM’sEditorial Advisory Board. All questions have been submitted via the “Ask TheExpert” portion of the magazine’s Web site. To pose a question, visit this link.
