Digital Lumens announced on Tuesday that its Intelligent LED Lighting Systems have been installed in Americold facilities across three states. The upgrades in Massachusetts, Utah and Wisconsin are estimated to save 2.3 million kilowatt-hours annually.

The lighting system includes its own fixtures with onboard computers, sensors, decision-making engines and other features to save up to 90 percent of lighting energy. The light fixtures can also reduce the power consumed by air conditioners and chillers in cold storage warehouses by 20 percent to 40 percent by not emitting heat onto chilled food. Lighting in commercial buildings can consume up to 22 percent of total energy, but it often takes a backseat to heating and cooling when it comes to notions of big energy savings.

The contract with Americold and Groom Energy could be just the beginning for Digital Lumens. Groom Energy and Americold will also be upgrading warehouses in four other states in coming months, which would save another 3.3 million kWhs. But there could be even more -- as Americold, which owns and operates more than 180 temperature-controlled warehouses in various countries, has more than one billion cubic feet of storage.

“We are delighted that Americold has selected and deployed the Digital Lumens Intelligent Lighting System across multiple sites, and we appreciate Groom's expertise and commitment that has led to so many successful deployments,” Tom Pincince, president and CEO of Digital Lumens, said in a statement. “Americold's feedback during the development process was invaluable to our successful product design. In addition to broad improvements in light quality and energy efficiency, Americold is also leveraging LightRules management software for a detailed view into the facilities’ operational performance and to measure progress toward company-wide sustainability objectives.”

The relationship with Groom Energy could also provide other opportunities for Digital Lumens in the warehouse space, as Groom Energy also works with a range of companies in the food manufacturing, distribution and cold storage industry, including Conagra, Kellogg's and Ocean Spray.

Besides big contracts, Digital Lumens is also at the top of the list for acquisitions in this space. Other players in the LED space that are getting attention include Lumenergi, Lumetric, Metrolight, Daintree Networks and Adura Technologies. But Digital Lumens was also joined by a new CFO, Michael Rubino, who took battery maker A123 Systems to an IPO. The switch only increases speculation that this is a company on the move.