The live events industry is notoriously environmentally unfriendly. The focus is very much on entertaining the planet, not saving it. In this series Live Design applauds the manufacturers, distributors, and designers who are working to make our industry more sustainable, one step at a time.
Elation Professional has taken a significant step to increase its environmental sustainability and reduce energy consumption. Here are some of the successful steps the company has made to reduce its carbon footprint, and support its employees' attempts to lower their impact on the planet.
Elation has installed a solar power system at its worldwide headquarters in Los Angeles, CA. The new solar array provides the majority of the power required by the facility, significantly reducing the company’s carbon footprint. The new system features 840 solar panels mounted on the roof of the building, with a further 135 panels supported by a carport structure. In total, the solar array has the capacity to generate 439 KWs of electricity, making for an approximate yearly output of 689,231 kWh. It offsets the production of 923,570 pounds of carbon annually, which is equivalent to 13,785 trees cleansing the air for one year.
“During the pandemic I took the opportunity to analyze every aspect of our business operations to ensure that we are as efficient as possible and doing all we can to minimize our environmental impact,” comments Toby Velazquez, President of the ADJ Group of Companies. “It soon became clear that switching to a sustainable power source for our LA headquarters was the right decision, both for our company and for the environment.”
In addition to feeding into the building’s power system, the new solar power system features 12 SemaConnect Series 6 car-charging stations that allow employees to charge their electric car while at work, helping to encourage adoption of zero-emission vehicles.
On the product side, Elation was one of the first companies in the lighting industry to offer more environmentally friendly and energy efficient LED lighting fixtures in 2003, helping to drive the shift from incandescent sources to low energy LED. When a discharge lamp is preferred, Elation worked with Philips engineers to develop a Platinum FLEX lamp that doubled the lamp life while offering a Hibernation mode, resulting in lower power consumption.
Elation has always worked to improve product efficiency and minimize its environmental impact with durable designs that promote sustainability with long lifespans that are antithetical to the throw-away culture. The company is also WEEE registered for the recovery and recycling of electrical and electronic equipment.
Elation is committed to sustainability and preserving the environment and will continue to look for proactive ways it can increase efficiency and reduce the carbon footprint.