McLaren Health Care, a statewide integrated healthcare network, and Future Energy Group, a turnkey energy solutions provider, have partnered to revolutionize exterior and interior lighting across 11 hospitals in Michigan.

The massive undertaking—25,000 Cree outdoor and indoor LED fixtures and over 12,000 Cree SmartCast® intelligent lighting fixtures were installed—will enable McLaren to reduce their energy expenditure by nearly 70% and realize an estimated cost savings of over $1.6 million annually in energy and operating costs.

The McLaren Health Care corporate-wide LED lighting project includes upgrading both indoor and outdoor lighting in parking lots and structures, hallways, waiting rooms, lobbies and staff centers. Intelligent lighting and LED fixtures were installed in over 5 million square feet at McLaren subsidiaries: Northern Michigan, Bay Region, Bay Special Care, Central Michigan, Greater Lansing, Orthopedic Hospital, Flint, Lapeer Region, Port Huron, Macomb and Oakland.  To date, this project is the world’s largest intelligent lighting installation for both Future Energy Group and Cree.

“McLaren Health Care is committed to reducing our carbon footprint as much as possible by decreasing our energy use,” said Keith Miller, corporate facilities manager, McLaren Health Care. “Working with Future Energy Group to improve our lighting, with a suite of Cree products, allowed us to reach our sustainability goals quickly and cost effectively while improving patient, staff and visitor experiences.”

“Through our Corporate Programs, we were able to assist McLaren Health Care pivot to a more energy-efficient footprint,” said Michael Abraham, Jr., co-founder and president, Future Energy Group.  “Our approach is completely turnkey, from a detailed energy analysis to project management of installation and commissioning of the new system. Our team personally counted each and every fixture in every facility where the new products were installed.  That’s the attention to detail Future Energy Group is committed to.”  

Healthcare facilities consume enormous amounts of energy in the form of heat, light and electricity. A June 2016 Yale University study cited that the healthcare sector contributes 8 percent of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions, emitting more than the entire United Kingdom. This intelligent LED lighting project will enable McLaren to optimize energy savings and utilize their space effectively, furthering McLaren’s corporate-wide initiative to promote sustainable business practices.

“It was exciting to work on such a comprehensive project because we were able to get creative with Cree’s lighting solutions for McLaren,” said Sam DiNello, co-founder and vice president, Future Energy Group.  “We selected the SmartCast fixtures with occupancy and daylight harvesting sensors to recognize if somebody is in the space or not.  This technology allows for dimming capabilities when an area isn’t occupied, which further increases savings, sometimes as high as 90 percent.”

The Cree SmartCast and LED lighting installation provides McLaren Health Care with numerous benefits, including:

• Substantially lowered operational costs, a total of $1.6M per year
• Reduced environmental impact with a sustainable choice
• A consistent lighting and brand experience across 11 facilities

For more information on the McLaren Health Care installation please visit http://betterlight.cree.com/mclaren.