The Apex Mills family of companies was founded in 1943. Originally started as a reseller to the bridal and apparel industries, it soon evolved into a supplier and manufacturer of warp knit fabrics geared towards industrial applications.
Every textile Apex Mills produces comes from their mill, Apex Aridyne, located in Graham, North Carolina. The 200,000-square foot mill employs more than 100 experienced local workers who are dedicated to producing the highest quality textiles in the industry. The mill operates 24 hours a day, five days a week. They take pride in the U.S.-based mill and continually invest in the facility to make sure it lives up to the high expectations of their customers.
Apex Mills is rapidly heading towards a more sustainable approach to manufacturing textiles. They are dedicated to making production practices more sustainable, because they believe preserving the environment is not only a concern of theirs and their customers, but because it’s the right thing to do. To that end, Apex Aridyne Corp. looked to GreenTech to update the existing lighting in the mill to improve the lighting conditions, reduce their cost of energy, and alleviate the time and cost of replacing inefficient lamps and ballasts.
“With a keen focus on industry trends and the needs of our customers, Apex Mills consistently looks to bring new textile advancements to market. Keeping our mill functioning efficiently and giving our employees the tools they need to grow is the core of doing business well. I am thankful to GreenTech for not only making us more energy efficient, but for helping us receive rebates that we can reinvest into the business to benefit our employees, community and customers.” Jonathan Kurz, CEO & Owner
GreenTech carefully gathered data on Apex Aridyne’s current lighting configuration for insight into its energy usage, operational costs, and existing light levels. Legacy lamp wattage and ballasts specifications were taken into consideration to create an average wattage consumption for each fixture. GreenTech then designed a retrofit layout for the building which resulted in more than 75 percent reduction in Apex Aridyne’s energy consumption and maintenance cost. The upgrade provided for 2.5 times higher light levels throughout the facility.
“We love the lighting, however, I was even happier when my boss told me we received the generous lighting rebates that GreenTech had projected.” Jay Huffman, Apex Mills Operations Manager.
In addition to the energy savings, GreenTech helped Apex Mills receive rebates from Duke Energy as well as securing a 25% grant from the USDA. In all, the incentives helped to subsidize more than 70% of the cost of the project, dramatically reducing the payback period. Furthermore, the operations manager has been relieved of the constant replacement of T12 and metal halide technology. The result is a safer, more efficient workplace with the following financial benefits:
- 1.5 year payback period
- 76% reduction of lighting energy and maintenance cost
- 892,642 kWh reduction in annual lighting energy usage
- $69,378 in annual operational cost savings
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