It’s a marquee week for two of GE’s consumer innovations. On one hand, coffee powerhouse Starbucks has embarked on a massive project to help reduce its global environmental footprint — and as part of it, has begun converting to GE’s LED lighting systems at company-owned stores in the U.S. and Canada. On the other, a GE technology that just jumped from the drawing board to the production line has caught the eye of the tech gurus at Popular Science magazine, which today gave GE’s new hybrid water heater its “Best of What’s New” award in the Home Technology category.
Coffee mates: In 2008, Starbucks wanted to substitute incandescent and halogen lighting with LED lighting to conserve energy, but found no commercially available product that met its needs. They reached out to GE, which developed a highly energy efficient LED product that complements Starbucks store design and fits its existing fixtures.
Starbucks has completed installation in more than 1,000 U.S. locations and will expand the program to international markets in March 2010. The switch is part of Starbucks goal to achieve a 25 percent reduction in energy use by the end of 2010.
In addition to its work with GE, Starbucks announced that it has entered into the construction phase of the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED pilot program, which is an internationally recognized green building certification system. Over the next six months, Starbucks will build or renovate a minimum of 10 pilot stores in six different regions around the world. The goal is to achieve LEED certification for all new company-owned stores worldwide beginning in late 2010.
And the winner is… “The Best of What’s New Award is the magazine’s top honor, and the 100 winners – chosen from among thousands of entrants — represent the highest level of achievement in their fields,” says Mark Jannot, Editor-in-Chief of Popular Science.
Meanwhile, the December issue of Popular Science names GE’s Hybrid Water Heater the “Best of What’s New” in the Home Technology category. It’s the fourth time that GE’s products have won an award in that category.
Each year the editors of Popular Science choose the top 100 tech innovations of the year in 11 categories: Automotive, Aviation & Space, Computing, Engineering, Gadgets, Green Technology, Home Entertainment, Security, Home Technology, Personal Health and Recreation.
GE’s Hybrid Water Heater uses heat pump technology in combination with traditional electric elements to pull heat from surrounding air and then transfers it to the tank. The innovative process can reduce energy expenses up to 62% — which translates into a savings of up to $320 a year when compared to a 50-gallon standard electric tank water heater.
* Read Starbucks LED lighting announcement
* Learn more about Starbucks environmental commitment
* Learn more about GE’s LED systems
* Read “Hey, what’s your sign? At AT&T it’s GE’s LEDs” on GE Reports
* See a video: “GE’s OLED research: I saw the light — and it bends!”
* Read today’s Popular Science announcement
* Learn more about the hybrid water heater
* Read “GE’s new KY deal marks a great time to be in hot water” on GE Reports
* Read “HD Supply deal pumps new hybrid water heater rollout” on GE Reports
* Read “Introducing the zero energy home” on GE Reports