At Modulex, we continuously search for ways to lower our carbon footprint. Firstly, by reducing our energy consumption at all levels; secondly, by making sure that the energy we use comes from renewable energy sources or alternatives to fossil fuels.
While the latter reduces our emissions by simply shifting to green energy, the former focuses on energy-saving behaviours and replacing old technologies with new ones to make our consumption more efficient, thus reducing the costs and the impact of our activities altogether.
As a part of our strategy to reduce our consumption and emissions, we are working on Project LED. Our Billund factory is currently planning to replace all illumination with LED lights and add energy-saving illumination in those areas where LEDs are technically impossible.
How does Project “LED” work?
Before starting this project, the energy consumption from illumination has been mapped to analyse the exact savings this project will generate and the time it will take to recover the investment, helping us set a baseline for future improvement.
There are around 500 lighting points in our Billund factory, which currently have a consumption of 52.803 watt-hours, with a yearly cost of 190.000 DKK. Approximately 50% of these will be changed to LEDs, while the other 50% will re-programmed to reduce their consumption by 60% without affecting the light quality they provide.
As a result, we expect to reduce our energy consumption by 58% and bring our costs down to 81.026 DKK. This change will generate a yearly saving of 30.758 watt-hours, equivalent to 113.288 DKK at the current energy prices in Denmark.
Out of the total saving generated, almost 60% will result from the new LED lights replacing old illumination, with a direct saving of 65.000 DKK annually. This change will significantly reduce our energy consumption and, therefore, our emissions.
A way to a circular economy
The investment for LED lights has been around 26.000 DKK. Therefore, we expect to recover the investment 4-5 months after installing the LEDs. Besides this, we are also looking for sensors to reduce consumption even more in areas with specific light for production purposes, aiming to reduce our emissions and costs even further.
This project is a good case to show the feasibility of cutting down your environmental impact and costs at a low investment, which is especially important for many companies with the current highly volatile energy prices. We hope this will resonate as an example of how sustainability and finances can share a common bottom line and be mutually reinforced, enabling organisations to lower their impact and become stronger financially.
Erik Sørensen Ruiz
Environmental and Partnership Manager
