Seesmart Technologies Lights Up the Big Apple

Seesmart Technologies Inc., a Simi Valley manufacturer of LED lights, is in the midst of a $2.5 million retrofit of New York City area high-rise buildings belonging to SL Green Realty Corp., the largest office landlord in the city. The project, which calls for installing the lights at four Manhattan buildings, is expected to be completed by the end of the month. It follows work Seesmart finished in March at 17 buildings in areas outside of Manhattan, which also are owned by SL Green Realty. LED, or light-emitting diode, lights are more efficient and less costly than fluorescent lighting. LED lights have gained more traction in commercial and industrial settings than residential structures because of the significant cost benefit. Installing 16,000 LED lamps in offices, stairwells, hallways, and garages will save SL Green $750,000 in energy, materials, and labor, said Seesmart CEO Ken Ames. In return, SL Green is receiving $200,000 in incentives from utilities in New York State. “They saw the savings and realized how much sense it made (to use our lights),” Ames said. Still, he added, the realty firm was “a hard sell” because of its strict standards and lengthy testing process. Jay Black, director of sustainability at SL Green Realty, said using the LED lights in the lobbies of some of the company’s suburban properties has cut energy costs by 90 percent. “Seesmart was not the cheapest product on the market, but it justifies the spending in they offered the best payback opportunity,” he said. Seesmart was founded in 1997 by Ames and Raymond Sjolseth, both of whom have backgrounds in the technology industry. The company has facilities in Simi Valley, the City of San Fernando and the Chicago area. There are 45 employees in Simi Valley, including part-time engineers, and five employees in the San Fernando location, Ames said. Seesmart has a market capitalization of $250 million and estimates revenues will reach $25 million this year and double to $50 million in 2013, according to a fact sheet on its website. Since beginning sales of its lights in 2007, Seesmart customers have included the City of Los Angeles, the State of California, Raytheon and the Marriott hotel chain. In March, the company received a $2.3 million contract to replace fluorescent lighting in the 26 buildings on the Pasadena City College campus. In April, Seesmart completed a replacement of lights in 700 fixtures in the parking garage of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, resulting in a decrease of 57 percent in energy costs for the health care facility. “We are on the right track with the right technology,” Ames said. “It will do nothing but grow in the next decade.” Market research firm IBISWorld estimates the U.S. LED manufacturing market at $825 million and the ranks the industry’s performance as strong. The firm cautioned, however, that LEDs produced abroad could hamper revenue growth. The contract with SL Green Realty came about after Seesmart provided samples of its lights in late 2010. It was one of several LED suppliers the realty firm considered, Black said. SL Green hired Environmental Systems Corp., a designer/contractor of energy efficiency installations, to help evaluate Seesmart and other bidders for the project. SL Green chose Seesmart because the company’s warranty period demonstrated a long-term commitment to clients, and it has a viable business model that ensures it would stay in business, Black said. “We wanted to make sure there was going to be a company in place to support the warranty.” Indeed, Seesmart is taking steps to ensure that its growth continues. Seesmart is considering opening a manufacturing facility in Connecticut, Ames said, noting talks are ongoing. During the next 18 to 24 months, work performed by eight to 10 contract manufacturers in Asia will be brought back to the U.S., although it’s unclear how many jobs will be created, Ames said. Seesmart already has added about 20 jobs in the past year at its 12,000-square-foot Simi Valley facility. Those jobs were previously performed by Asian contractors.