Commercial, Energy Efficiency, GHG Emissions  -  March 13, 2023

Cintas’ LED Lighting Transition Nearly Finished

Cintas Corporation, a company that provides products for facilities, is nearing the completion of a multi-year companywide LED lighting transition project to help reduce facility-focused energy use.

The company decreased energy use by installing LED lights at its older, more energy-intensive locations, and initiated the company-wide LED transition project in FY’19.

Cintas has 475 facilities throughout the United States and Canada  - these field locations, distribution centers and corporate facilities combine for about 23 million square feet of space that requires heating, cooling and appropriate lighting.

The company's Quality and Engineering Team completed LED installations at more than 125 locations by the end of the company’s fiscal year 2022 and entered the current fiscal year with fewer than 50 target facilities remaining in the current phase.

“We’ve already installed LED lighting in over 6 million square feet of space in our facilities, which is poised to reduce our annual energy use by almost 23.3 million kilowatt hours going forward,” said Christy Nageleisen, Cintas’ Vice President of ESG in a statement.

More than 27,000 incandescent and fluorescent lighting fixtures have been swapped out, and the energy savings generated by the LEDs represents more than 16,500 metric tons of CO2 emissions averted annually.

Cintas reduced its energy consumption intensity by 7.9% from FY’21 to FY’22, which included the expanding impact of the LED lighting transition project.

Working with the state of New Jersey, Cintas identified the opportunity to install its first solar-powered system at the company’s Rental location in Piscataway, N.J. The project is underway and is expected to be fully installed and operational in the late spring of 2023. Once online and connected to the energy grid, Cintas’ first solar system installation will allow the company to evaluate its year-round performance and compare the costs with traditional utility-based energy sources.

Some Cintas facilities have installed various energy-reduction technologies, including entrances with multiple doors, timing mechanisms on the HVAC and lighting systems, water-flow reducers and thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO) roofs and ceilings made of lighter-colored materials to reflect radiant heat.

The company is also evaluating other energy- and water-reduction capabilities for its existing and future facilities.