Greg Merritt, Vice President of Marketing and Public Affairs at Cree, Inc., is an Alliance Board Director and has contributed the following guest blog post. 

Every year, Earth Day prompts us to gauge our impact on the environment, including consideration of our energy use and what measures we can take to reduce it. We might become more cognizant of our waste and remember to turn our lights off when we leave the room, but how can we keep our environmentally-friendly and energy saving goals prominent throughout the rest of the year?

Since the cheapest, cleanest energy is the energy we don’t use, implementing energy-efficient LED lighting is one of the simplest, most valuable long-term changes we can make. Cree’s mission is the 100 percent adoption of LED lighting, providing intelligent solutions to save energy and improve the overall light experience. As an extension of this mission, Cree has a long-standing commitment with Habitat for Humanity International to support their mission to provide affordable, sustainable homes and enable homeowners to greatly reduce their energy usage while enjoying great light quality.

Since 2010, Cree has pledged to provide its LED downlights to Habitat for Humanity affiliates, and most recently extended the commitment to include the Cree LED Bulb, making whole-home LED lighting possible for Habitat homeowners. To date, more than 3,000 new Habitat homes nationwide feature Cree LED lighting, using 85 percent less energy over decades of projected use, helping to keep Habitat homes affordable.

LED lighting is truly a game-changer for energy efficiency in communities now and for the future. According to the Department of Energy, LED lighting can deliver a 53 percent decrease in residential lighting energy consumption compared to the no-LED scenario by 2030.

The time is now to make the energy-efficient choices that have a long-term impact. If it’s as easy as changing a light bulb, why wouldn’t you adopt LED lighting?