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.
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.