If you're looking for another sign of change as Wachovia locations convert to Wells Fargo, you don't have to look far.
See those letters spelling out Wells Fargo on your favorite banking store? Well, they could well be lit by tiny light-emitting diodes, or LEDs
, which produce the same amount of light as standard lighting but use only one-quarter of the energy. LEDs last about five years longer than lights using neon tubing and gas, too.
Starting with Colorado last fall, every converting Wachovia banking location, office, and Wells Fargo Advisors branch features the new signs. They're also being used on new stores and to replace damaged signs. In fact, by the time the last state has transitioned on the East Coast in late 2011, we will have installed about 7,000 LED signs coast-to-coast.
The total annual savings? An estimated $1.5 million in reduced energy and maintenance costs.
Jay Doolittle, strategic planning manager for Wells Fargo's Corporate Properties Group, says the switch to LEDs for the lettered wall signs came after a regular review of signage before the merger — including materials, lighting, lifecycles, and environmental sustainability.
So far, the biggest LED of them all (and the company's largest west of the Mississippi) is the Wells Fargo sign atop the Brentwood building in Los Angeles, which greets thousands of drivers on the 405 each day. Each letter stands 7 feet, 4 inches tall — the height of former University of Virginia and NBA player Ralph Sampson
, who, even at that height, is only the ninth-tallest to have played the game.
The Brentwood sign went up on April 9 as part of the California conversion.
According to Doolittle, the environmental benefits don't end with LED signs. Wells Fargo is also upgrading and using more energy-efficient components in all signs, re-using the temporary vinyl sign covers placed over new Wells Fargo signs until they're revealed on conversion weekend, and breaking down the old Wachovia signs to recycle everything possible.
To learn more about how Wells Fargo is working hard to do what's right for the environment and for business, please see our fellow Wells Fargo Environmental Forum blog. They're exploring ways to do what's right for the environment and for business, from Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) certification for new and renovated buildings to a pilot of solar power systems in Colorado.
As Richard Henderson, corporate properties director of the Corporate Properties Group, says, "These new LED wall signs are just one of many things we're trying to do to be more environmentally friendly with our buildings."
Think about that next time you see the big WELLS FARGO!