By switching the lighting on signs in 6,500 of its stores to an LED lighting system from
General Electric,
AT&T will save nearly 6 million kilowatt hours of electricity a year.
The switch is happening in tandem with a redesign of the company's logo, which necessitated the change in signage. The company will replace the existing bulbs with a long-life Tetra LED lighting system designed by GE, which are up to 80 percent more efficient than neon lights.
The energy savings will lead to significant cost savings, as well as the elimination of 3,500 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions annual, AT&T reported.
"We knew a switch to more efficient signage would be a sustainable business decision, both environmentally and financially," Shawn McKenzie, senior vice president of Corporate Real Estate at AT&T Services, said in a statement. "We researched our options, analyzed the data and ultimately chose the GE system for its reliability, energy efficiency, environmental benefits and long-term value proposition. It also helped that GE is built to handle such large-scale efforts."
LED lighting has made significant impacts for energy efficiency lately; in February, the city of Los Angeles
switched out 140,000 streetlights with LEDs, and expects to save $48 million a year in electricity costs.
And late last month, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu unveiled
$346 million in funding to help bring buildings up to new standards of energy efficiency in lighting.
