April 25, 2023   

That's a Wrap!  Acuity Brands to Retire Fluorescent and HID Fixtures

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Conventional source luminaires represent less than 5% in sales. Phase out by year-end.

 

When LED-based products made up 12% of Acuity Brands' revenue in the year 2012, then-CEO Vern Nagel expressed pride in the company's leadership position in LED penetration, which helped generate a total of $1.9 billion in company revenue that year.

As the LED revolution took over residential, commercial and industrial lighting markets, Acuity Brands saw a steady increase in annual revenues that eventually exceeded $4 billion just ten years later. And LED-related products now represent over 95% of the company’s sales.

This week, on the heels of Earth Day, the North American leader in lighting has announced to its business partners that it will be moving to a 100% LED product portfolio by year’s end. Acuity Brands plans to discontinue the manufacture of all fluorescent and HID luminaires in its portfolio by December 31, 2023. This decision is part of the company's goal to achieve Net Zero carbon emissions by 2040.

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Acuity Brands' Senior Vice President of Commercial Lighting, George McIlwraith, stated that the company has been "transitioning from a portfolio fully comprised of fluorescent and HID luminaires to a robust offering of energy-efficient LED luminaires" for over a decade. He also noted that the company's remaining conventional luminaires now represent less than 5% of their sales, a significant reduction in a relatively short time.

LED technology has quickly overtaken traditional HID and fluorescent lighting due to its superior quality of light, reduced energy consumption, and lower cost of ownership. In a memo to business partners, Acuity Brands reinforced that Lithonia Lighting® is currently North America's leading brand in LED ambient lighting and embedded technology for new construction and renovation projects.

As Acuity Brands continues to focus on improving efficiency and reducing their environmental impact, customers can refer to a Cross-Reference Chart to find suitable LED substitutes for discontinued fluorescent and HID luminaires. Categories of lighting products affected include:

  • Troffers
  • Strips
  • High/Low Bays
  • Wraps
  • Floodlights
  • Area Lighting
  • Building Mount
  • Residential

 

Not the first big company to announce a fluorescent phase-out

As reported by the inside.lighting I-Team weeks ago, a similar announcement recently came from another important name in lighting. Lutron announced that in response to the industry's increasing standardization around LEDs, Lutron will stop production of all fluorescent ballast product families by the end of 2023. The Hi-Lume name, along with other familiar product families, live on in the company’s wide range of LED drivers.

 

Signify not expected to follow suit anytime soon

Global lighting company, Signify, has not made any public announcements about total fluorescent phase out, but such a move would be more complicated considering the $7+ billion company’s more fragmented global market penetration and significantly large lamp business. Many US-based luminaire brands of Signify are LED-only but globally, LED-based sales represented 83% of total sales in 2022. The United States represented 33% of Signify’s sales last year. Signify’s sales of conventional sources in recent years have been a profitable business, with the category delivering 12.9% EBITDA in 2022.

 

 

 




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