Bi-State Development Sparks Huge Savings With Energy-Efficient Lighting
Date Posted: July 10, 2017
Posted In: Projects,
From Metro St. Louis: While it’s true Metro transit is an industry-leader in operational efficiency and reliability, and is known around the world for its innovative maintenance program, there’s one area where we were falling behind.
Our lights.
If you walked through a Metro transit facility a few years ago, you would have noticed that the lights shining down on the trains, buses and vans weren’t the brightest. They also weren’t the most energy efficient.
“We needed to upgrade to a newer technology,” said Andrew Ghiassi, Manager of Safety and Loss Control at Bi-State Development. “It was time.”
It just so happened that while Ghiassi was thinking about stronger and safer lighting options, he experienced a spark of inspiration.
“I attended an Ameren seminar,” he said. “They mentioned a new program called Ameren Missouri BizSavers, a program to encourage companies to reduce their energy consumption.”
In 2015, Bi-State Development partnered with Ameren Missouri and began a substantial updating project – replacing old, high-pressure sodium light fixtures with new, state-of-the-art light-emitting diode (LED) fixtures. When the project was completed in the spring of 2017, more than 1,900 light fixtures had been upgraded at five Metro transit facilities: Brentwood MetroBus Facility; Central Facility; DeBaliviere MetroBus Facility; Illinois MetroBus Facility; and Missouri Rail Yard and Shops.
Several Metro employees played an integral role in this project: Darren Curry, Chief Mechanical Officer; Chuck Clemins, Senior Director of Maintenance of Way; Marvin Dixon, Supervisor of MetroBus Support Services; Terrence Trower, Superintendent-Main Shop; Brian O’Hara, Supervisor of MetroBus Maintenance; William Kamler, Electrician; Adam Biagi, Electrician; Larry Rohde, Electrician.
“It was a monumental undertaking to replace all of these lights – these industrial fixtures are quite large. The team did an amazing job,” Ghiassi said. “And the feedback has been great. All of our mechanics, technicians, operators are thrilled with the new lights.”