MIAMI, April 16, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cree, Inc. (Nasdaq:CREE), a leader in LED lighting, announces that the University of Miami has joined the LED University(tm) program, installing new LED pole lights to improve walkway illumination on the main campus and retrofitting LED lighting at various interior locations.
Twenty BetaLED(tm) LEDway fixtures now illuminate walkways on the main campus in Coral Gables, providing much-improved visibility and safety. In addition, the university is evaluating LED lighting for interior applications such as conference rooms, hallways and classrooms. LED lighting pilot installations are saving as much as 70 percent on energy used for lighting conference rooms and hallways.
"With new LED lighting on our main campus, we achieve far better area illumination -- enhancing visibility and safety at night," said Humberto Speziani, vice president, business services. "The LED lights are more energy-efficient than other technologies, reducing our carbon footprint in line with the state's aggressive goals. The University of Miami is working toward 'greener' facilities, and we continue to evaluate new technologies, such as LED lighting, for both interior and exterior applications. The university intends to monitor the performance of LED lighting and other sustainable technologies as they continue to advance."
The University of Miami joins LED University participants North Carolina State University; Marquette University; University of California, Santa Barbara; University of Arkansas; Madison Area Technical College; Notre Dame; University of California, Davis; University of Alaska at Anchorage and Tianjin Polytechnic University in China in evaluating and deploying LED lighting as they work toward increasing energy savings, protecting the environment, reducing maintenance costs, and providing better light quality for improved visibility and safety.
About University of Miami
The University of Miami is a private research university with more than 15,000 students enrolled from around the world. Founded in 1925 on 230 acres in Coral Gables, just south of Miami, the University of Miami has grown to include the Leonard M. Miller medical campus and James L. Knight Center in Miami; the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science on Virginia Key in Biscayne Bay; the Richmond campus in southeast Miami-Dade county; and the John J. Koubek Center in Little Havana. Additional information can be obtained at www.miami.edu.
About LED University
The LED University initiative is a growing international community of universities working to evaluate, deploy, and promote LED lighting across their campus infrastructures to save energy, protect the environment, reduce maintenance costs, and provide better light quality for improved visibility and safety.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, 22 percent of electricity used in the U.S. powers lighting. In a world with soaring energy prices based on the availability and control of fossil fuels, and with growing concern about sustainability of the environment, a revolution in lighting is long overdue.
Details of each university's LED lighting pilots and installations are available on the LED University web site: www.leduniversity.org.
About Cree, Inc.
Cree, Inc. is leading the LED lighting revolution and setting the stage to obsolete the incandescent light bulb through the use of energy-efficient, environmentally friendly LED lighting. Cree is a market-leading innovator of lighting-class LEDs, LED lighting retrofit solutions, and semiconductor solutions for backlighting, wireless and power applications.
For additional product and company information, please refer to www.cree.com.
The Cree, Inc. logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=3529
This press release contains forward-looking statements involving risks and uncertainties, both known and unknown, that may cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated. Actual results may differ materially due to a number of factors, including the possibility that actual energy savings may vary from expectations; customer acceptance of LED products; the rapid development of new technology and competing products that may impair demand or render Cree's products obsolete; and other factors discussed in Cree's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its report on Form 10-K for the year ended June 29, 2008, and subsequent filings.
Cree is a registered trademark and LED University is a trademark of Cree, Inc.
BetaLED is a trademark of Ruud Lighting, Inc.