Project Green Light
By Genevieve Diesing   
Tuesday, 25 March 2008
By pioneering the distribution of induction lighting, Trydor Industries (Canada) Ltd. sets a green example.
By Genevieve Diesing

 

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Trydor Industries is a pioneer of eco-friendly induction lighting.




Premier Business Partners:

Maclean Power Systems
Silver City Galvanizing
R&M Plastic Products Ltd.
Trydor Industries (Canada) Ltd., a Surrey, British Columbia-based transmission, distribution and substation distributor, has more than 150 years of collective experience in its senior staff. This is one of the reasons Washoe County, Nevada based induction lighting manufacturer Global Green Induction Lighting LLC appointed the 36-year-old company to be their exclusive Canadian partner in Canada to distribute its induction lighting.

Induction lighting is an energy-efficient form of lighting. An induction bulb produces less heat and whiter light than other bulbs, making the bulb last longer and colors appear more accurate. The light source also uses up to 80 percent less energy than other incandescent light bulbs and burns for more than 100,000 hours, reducing bulb-changing intervals.

"Induction lighting has been around for over 10 years, but [manufacturers have] had difficulty getting it up and running for a variety of reasons," President and General Manager Al Browning says. "But now, the ballast has been eliminated and we've gone to a magnetic coil, operated by a computable program to support the new induction bulb. Now we can have instant "on." Our design has been streamlined, and we feel this is going to provide energy savings while reducing greenhouse gases."
    
Trydor is in the early marketing stages of distribution and anticipates long-term mass production of the product. Areas that would see a benefit from induction lighting are highways, parking lots and garages, sports arenas, billboards, municipal parks and public buildings, among others. Trydor's other green initiatives include working with Independent Power Producers (IPPs). IPPs produce electricity through hydroelectric projects and wind farms, and sell the energy to a utility company. Trydor works with IPPs to design and manufacture their substations, which feed and regulate power to utility companies. "The initial cost of the induction unit is approximately 20 percent higher than a standard high pressure sodium unit, however the long-term energy savings and replacement costs of the bulb more than make up for the difference in initial cost," Patrick Kyle, manager of special projects says.

Trydor says it is one of the largest distributors in Western Canada for pole-line transmission and substation hardware and equipment. Its customer base includes utilities, electrical wholesalers, municipal bodies, the mining sector and the petroleum industry, among others. Trydor also has sales staff and warehouses in Edmonton and Calgary, with an inventory of over 15,000 products.

In-House Improvements
Trydor tripled its business within the past four years without increasing its staff. The company achieved this in part by implementing new management and accounting software called Microsoft Dynamics GP. "This software greatly improved the control over our inventory within our organization," says Darren Browning, IT Business Solutions and Service Center Manager. "We now see real-time inventory levels in all three of our warehouses." This increased awareness enables Trydor to give more accurate order-to-ship times and inventory levels, enabling more competitive pricing.

Trydor's newly designed and custom built 35,000-square-foot warehouse in Surrey has "allowed Trydor to increase our manufacturing and warehousing of stock and custom-built items with improved equipment, thus improving quality and delivery," Peter Jakes, Sales Manager says.  Trydor also made improvements to their Service Centre where they test and repair safety products and tools.  Trydor received a $34,000 grant from BC Hydro's Power Smart conservation program to fund the installation of energy-efficient lighting in Trydor's new facility. The new lighting should save Trydor a projected $9,000 a year in energy costs.

Induction lighting

Because induction bulbs use magnetic coils instead of hot filaments or electrodes, the bulbs don't get as heated and last much longer. They also:
  • Reduce energy consumption up to 80 percent, but increase light output
  • Are guaranteed to burn for more than 100,000 hours, 24/7
  • Have a guaranteed minimum life of 10 years
  • Measures 80-95 on the color-rendering index (CRI)
  • Are 100 percent flicker-free
  • Operate in -40 degrees

Source: Global Green Energy LLC
 
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