“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtfully committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” — Margaret Mead
Without our innovative partners and inspired residents and organizations looking to make a positive impact on our environment, we couldn’t move forward together toward a cleaner and sustainable New York State. So for Earth Week, we’re celebrating those people, and asking them why they became more energy conscious.
At Syracuse-based Ephesus Lighting, Chief Technology Officer Joe Casper saw the growing trend of companies and individuals becoming more environmentally conscious and knew that improved lighting could help them become more energy efficient. The demand for high quality, energy efficient lighting among large energy consumers remained largely untapped, and so that is where Ephesus sank its teeth.
Ephesus Lighting at the University of Phoenix Stadium
“Ephesus identified that there was an unmet need for energy efficient lighting in rigorous environments, be they high output with uniformity for sports, or able to withstand wet, dusty, corrosive or otherwise harsh environments in the industrial segment,” Casper said. “We challenge ourselves to develop products to address these needs.”
Ephesus Lighting recently made a debut in Superbowl XLIX at the University of Phoenix Stadium. The New York based company installed 312 Ephesus Stadium fixtures that use just 310,000 watts of energy as compared to the 1.24 million watts needed to power the previous lighting system.
Founded in 2010, the company began working on further refinement of its products in 2011 at the NYSERDA -sponsored Clean Tech Center at The Tech Garden, an incubator in Syracuse. While there, the company worked on its own LED chip as well as precursors to the Arena fixture, deployed in the War Memorial Arena in Syracuse as the first LED lighting installation in a sports venue in North America, and the Stadium Pro fixture installed at the University of Phoenix Stadium. Ephesus Lighting graduated from the Clean Tech Center in 2014, helping demonstrate the success these innovative businesses can achieve while working with an incubator. Ephesus Lighting moved in 2014 into its own office and laboratory space in Onondaga Tower in downtown Syracuse.
Six NYSERDA-sponsored business incubators located across New York State assist early-stage ventures in the clean energy industry, providing support and guidance to entrepreneurs looking to make a positive impact on the environment. Fostering an innovative, clean energy ecosystem is a key goal of the state’s Reforming the Energy Vision. Since the Clean Tech Center’s inception in 2009, it has helped start-up companies raise more than $18 million in private capital.
Ephesus Lighting provides the perfect example of how entrepreneurs can benefit and thrive in the State’s incubator hubs.
“We are constantly innovating and pushing ourselves further, to improve our products, increase efficiency and meet the demands of our customers while developing more new and innovative technologies,” Casper said.
New York State Energy Research and Development Authority 