For Immediate release

Vanguard Furniture receives Orion environmental award

Light-related energy reduction the equivalent of saving 28,958 gallons of gas annually

Vanguard Furniture, an innovator in manufacturing fashionable and stylish furniture, has earned Orion Energy Systems’ Environmental Stewardship Award for the company’s reduction in energy consumption using Orion’s lighting platform.

At Vanguard’s Conover, NC facility, 1,380 light fixtures were replaced with 790 Orion Compact Modular™ Fixtures, using its patented high-intensity fluorescent (HIF) technology.

Vanguard Furniture is the first furniture manufacturer in Catawba County to receive this award.  “We’re very honored to receive this Environmental Stewardship Award from Orion Energy.  Like so many environmentally friendly projects, replacing our lighting fixtures with stat-of-the-art Orion technology made sense on many levels.  We’re excited about the obvious impact to save energy and thus money, but we’ve doubled the amount of light in our facilities which has resulted in many of our associates commenting that the added light makes their work environment more pleasant and cheerful.   This has been a great project from all perspectives” says Andy Bray, VP of Vanguard.

The completed project reduces light-related electricity consumption at Vanguard Furniture by 55 percent.  Orion’s system is expected to decrease the amount of kilowatt-hours Vanguard consumes for lighting from an annual 607,483 kWh to 350,790 kWh.

As a result of the decreased energy consumption at Vanguard Furniture, the company is helping keep harmful greenhouse gases from entering the atmosphere.

In total, Vanguard Furniture will decrease carbon dioxide emissions by 233.2 tons over the life of the Orion lighting system as a result of the kilowatt-hour reduction, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.  During that same period, Vanguard Furniture will reduce 0.9 tons of sulfur dioxide and 0.3 tons of nitrogen oxides.

The reductions are the air-scrubbing equivalent of a 64-acre forest or removing 57 cars from the road.  It also is the conservation equivalent of saving 28,958 gallons of gasoline every year, according to EPA.

As a result of the energy system installation, Vanguard Furniture is projected to cut its light-related energy costs to 55 percent, from an annual $45,561 to $19,251.

Aware of the growing need to guard the planet, Vanguard Furniture is taking a leading position in the industry in developing environmentally-conscious furnishings.  Sustainability is more than a program; they see it as a way of life.  Working in all areas of their enterprise, from suppliers to their manufacturing process, they emphasize reducing waste and using sustainable elements.

The environmental and cost benefits to Vanguard Furniture are possible because of Orion’s patented high-efficiency technology that cut costs by 50 percent or more while providing 50 percent more light than the industry standard high-intensity discharge.

Today, more than 40 years later, Vanguard Furniture is still making good on its name to be in the forefront of furniture—from one perfect velvet chair, to endless possibilities.  The dream of one man now employs over 500 people and occupies over 400,000 square feet of manufacturing space.  Nearly all shareholders of the company are employees or grandchildren.  There truly is a family atmosphere at Vanguard, even for those that are not actually family.  They work in teams from the shop floor to the office, and respect and integrity are words they live by.  They strive to be good corporate citizens through maintaining good relationships.  It is important to them that their partners find them easy to work with, dependable and the product they sell is a good investment.  For more information, visit www.vanguardfurniture.com.

Orion Energy Systems, Inc. (NYSE Amex: OESX) is a leading power technology enterprise that designs, manufactures and implements energy management systems, consisting primarily of high-performance, energy-efficient lighting platforms, intelligent wireless control systems and direct renewable solar technology for commercial and industrial customers without compromising their operations.  Orion has deployed its energy management systems in 5,870 facilities across North America, including 123 of the Fortune 500 companies.  Since 2001, Orion technology has displaced more than 551 megawatts, saving customers more than $900 million and reducing indirect carbon dioxide emissions by 8 million tons.  For more information, visit www.oesx.com.