The Pentagon

In January 2009, Cree was selected to provide LED lighting for the Pentagon, one of the world's largest office buildings and home to approximately 23,000 employees, both military and civilian. As part of a major renovation in the Pentagon’s Wedge 5, Cree provided more than 4,200 LR24 recessed LED luminaires for installation.

To ensure they met the stringent federal standards, the Cree LR24 luminaires had to undergo extensive government testing and an exhaustive business-case analysis, which included a preliminary Pentagon installation to evaluate the fixtures and compare the results to the incumbent fluorescent technology. This independent analysis demonstrated improved light quality and projected a 22 percent reduction in energy usage.

The business-case analysis yielded a payback of less than four years. The analysis considered energy savings, lifetime maintenance savings, savings from reduced load on the HVAC system and elimination of hazardous waste disposal fees for mercury-laden fluorescent bulbs.

Based on these tests and analyses, Cree estimates the Wedge 5 installation will save 140 tons of CO₂ emissions per year - the equivalent of taking 24 cars off the road.