If you happen to think it’s brighter at the Original Oyster House on the Mobile Causeway, you are right as 200 fixtures were updated with LED lights this January. According to Energy Management Analyst Rod Koberg of Interactive Digital Technologies, replacing your lights with LEDs will brighten your future in more ways than one.

“Converting to LED lamps is great way to help keep a restaurant full of customers cooler on a hot summer day, since LED lamps emit no heat as compared to their predecessors. LED lamps also help lower your utility bill because the technology produces a significant 67% reduction in Kilowat hours and considering that utility rates are going up, this will make a huge impact on your light bill when running over 300 lights like the Original Oyster House does. LED lights also last up to 50,000 hours, five times longer than other lights, bringing maintenance costs down. Probably the greatest benefit outside of cost savings to convert to LED lights, isenvironmental enrichment. An estimated comparison of ecological savings in switching the Original Oyster House restaurant to LED lights would be the equivalent of saving 1200 trees, 100,000 pounds of carbon emissions, or taking nine automobiles off the road,” stated Koberg.

LED lights contain no toxic materials and are 100% recyclable. Most conventional fluorescent lighting bulbs contain a multitude of materials like e.g mercury, which is dangerous for the environment. LEDs help reduce your carbon footprint by up to a third. LEDs have many advantages over incandescent light sources including lower energy consumption, longer lifetime, improved physical robustness, smaller size, and faster switching.

This wasn’t the first step the Original Oyster House has made toward a greener footprint. As a member of the Green Council, the Original Oyster House has utilized renewable energy practices. Energy sources like biofuels (cooking oil), sun and wind, which are in no short supply at the Original Oyster House restaurants, are renewed for energy.

In 2010, the Original Oyster House began recycling used vegetable oil into biodiesel to run the company transportation. In December of 2012, a wind turbine was installed at the Mobile Causeway restaurant location which runs 24 hours a day generating power whenever winds reach eight miles per hour or greater. In 2013, solar water heaters were installed at both restaurant locations.

The Original Oyster House (OOH) has two locations, Mobile: 3733 Battleship Parkway, on the Causeway and Gulf Shores: 701 Hwy 59 on the Original Oyster House Boardwalk. Both locations offer spectacular waterfront views and have been celebrated as the area’s finest family restaurants. The Original Oyster House is managed by Superb Foods, a management company of Geez Louise Boutique, OOH Trading Company and Joe & Dave’s Sauces and Seasonings. For more information about Original Oyster House, visit www.originaloysterhouse.com or call 251-928-2620.

Interactive Digital Technologies is headquartered in Foley, Alabama and specializes in Integrated Solutions for Commercial, Industrial, Institutional and Residential applications. Energy Management, Remote Device Management & Control, LED Lighting Installation & Retrofit, Power Conditioning and Energy Management Software ,are Core Competencies of IDT. Contact Rod Koberg at; 866/663-8300 or rod.idt@gmail.com for a complementary site analysis and energy consumption report.

The Green Coast Council is a forum for business and industry leaders who practice and promote environmental sustainability principles. The Green Coast Council (GCC) is an initiative of the Alabama Coastal Foundation, Inc. which has the mission to improve and protect Alabama’s coastal environment through cooperation, education and participation. For more information visit www.joinacf.org.

LEDs Illuminate the Original Oyster House

Pictured from left holding LED lights that were recently upgraded at the Original Oyster House on the Mobile Causeway are Joe Roszkowski, co-owner and Bannister Chancellor of Bayshore Electric. Chancellor, who installed the LED lights at the Causeway.