Milwaukee Landmark at Rockwell Automation Now Lights Up Skyline Using 81% Less Energy

Largest Four-Sided Clock in Western Hemisphere Marks 50^th Anniversary with Energy-Efficient Upgrade

MILWAUKEE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Rockwell Automation Clock Tower, a Milwaukee landmark featuring the largest four-sided clock in the Western Hemisphere, celebrates its 50^th anniversary today with a lighting conversion marked by more than 10,000 new light emitting diodes (LED). The new lights reduce energy usage by 81 percent and are expected to save approximately $750,000 over their lifetime, compared to the previous fluorescent lights.

“We’ll also eliminate the maintenance expenses we used to pay when we had to replace more than 500 fluorescent lights every two years which add to the savings.”

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“The new Clock Tower lighting demonstrates our commitment to environmental excellence,” said Jeff Wolf, Rockwell Automation manager of global workplace services. “Just as we help our customers, we strive to make our operations smart, safe and sustainable -- leading by example in the communities where we live and operate.”

According to Murphy Energy Systems, a Milwaukee-based company hired by Rockwell Automation to oversee the project; reduced energy demands for the LED lighting is expected to eliminate 7,239,340 pounds of carbon dioxide over an estimated 20 years usage. This has the environmental impact of planting 44 acres of trees, removing 34 cars from the road and saving 21,937 gallons of gasoline each and every year.

“The LEDs energy savings are equivalent to powering 33 homes annually,” said Scott Garland, senior facility engineer, Rockwell Automation. “We’ll also eliminate the maintenance expenses we used to pay when we had to replace more than 500 fluorescent lights every two years which add to the savings.”

About the Rockwell Automation Clock Tower

Rising 333 feet above the streets of Milwaukee, the Clock Tower contains four 40-foot octagonal clock faces. Each clock is nearly twice the size of those on the tower housing London’s Big Ben. Rockwell Automation decided not to add chimes to allow London’s to remain the largest four-faced chiming clock in the world. Both towers held their respective titles of largest clocks in the world until the completion of a clock tower in Saudi Arabia in 2011.

To put the Rockwell Automation clocks in perspective, each minute hand is 20 feet long and weighs 530 pounds. Each hour hand is 15.8 feet long and weighs 490 pounds. The hour markings are 4 feet high.

For more information about the Clock Tower, see: http://sections.asme.org/milwaukee/history/24-abclock.html

The Clock Tower project is one of several sustainable business strategies at Rockwell Automation headquarters, which includes Wisconsin’s largest green roof. The 48,000 square foot sedum (flowering plants) and native perennials can manage more than one million gallons of rain water annually which reduces storm runoff. Over the past 12 months, the roof has captured more than 74 percent of the rain water that fell on the building, or 545,903 gallons.

Rockwell Automation, Inc. the world’s largest company dedicated to industrial automation and information, makes its customers more productive and the world more sustainable. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wis., Rockwell Automation employs more than 21,000 people serving customers in more than 80 countries.