How the City of Mississauga Turned Red Into “Green”
Zip Signs Ltd & Onland Navigation and Design take on retrofitting Mississauga’s Hershey Centre
In keeping with their green initiatives, the City of Mississauga decided it was time to retrofit one of the city’s most visible landmarks located next to Highway 403. The Hershey Centre which facilitates all types of activities including the St. Michaels Majors hockey club, concerts, and many other events has held a bright red luminance on the Mississauga skyline since its creation in October of 1998. The City of Mississauga in association with Onland Navigation and Design, and Zip Signs took on this project to restore the landmark to its original luster.
The challenge for the team of Onland Navigation and Design (the city’s consultant) and Zip Signs Ltd (the sign manufacturer) was illuminating the iconic “HERSHEY CENTRE” letters with energy-efficient LED’s as it had been for years with neon illumination.
The solution for this illumination was found in taking the original letters down, cleaning the acrylic faces, and fully populating them with high performance red LED modules. Fully populating the letters with LED’s created higher light output than the original neon, all while using a fraction of the energy as compared to the existing system. The value here is created by massive energy savings on a yearly basis, incredible decreases in service costs, as well as the satisfaction of making an effort to become more energy efficient and green.
CONSAC Show a Success!!
We received an incredible response from our national debut of AVL LEDs.
Didn’t get a chance to check us out at the show?
Contact us for an informative demonstration of all our available LED products
Why use LEDs?
LED lighting offers between 70-90% net energy savings when compared to other technologies. (fluorescent, neon etc.)
Life expectancy of LEDs is 50,000 hours. This translates to over five years of consistent lighting and significant labour cost savings from bulb changes and neon refurbishment.
LED lighting is less susceptible to fading when compared to neon, meaning signage will look as good in it’s fifth year as it did when installed.
LEDs are certified to run efficiently between the temperatures of -30° Celsius to 85 ° Celsius.
Fluorescent lamps can fade as much as 50-80% when the temperature dips below freezing. This means that in Canadian climates LEDs will keep your sign lit consistently year round.
Like saving money and the environment?
Ask us about our energy efficient LED Retrofit Programs!
Incredibly fast payback periods and widely available rebate programs
We take care of all the details and give you a turn key solution
40th Anniversary Celebration
Zip Signs celebrated 40 years in business with an incredible party at Liuna Gardens! See below for a few photos from the fun-filled day with family and friends.
Come visit us at the CONSAC Imagemakers Show
Zip Signs is proud to announce that it will be debuting an exciting new LED product line at the CONSAC show!
Zip Signs is now the exclusive National Distributor for AVL LED!
Please come see our incredible line of LED products at booth #5.
Friday, Sept. 23 – 9:30am – 5:00pm
Saturday, Sept 24 – 10:00am – 4:00pm
International Centre Hall 5, 6900 Airport Road, Mississauga, ON, L4V 1E8
To Register visit: http://www.sac-ace.ca/consac
Zip Signs is proud to announce a national distribution partnership with AVL LED!
Check out our LED Page for more information!
Zip Signs Celebrates Forty Years of Business in Burlington
Zip Signs LTD, a nationwide exterior sign company, is celebrating forty years of leadership in the sign business. Since being established in 1971, Zip Signs’ client base has grown to include financial, retail, corporate, and community institutions. Zip Signs serves customers across Canada, and in its forty years of service has manufactured and installed over 100,000 signs. There very well may be a Zip Signs’ product on every major street in the country!
In 1983, Zip Signs was purchased by Fred Bennink, current president and CEO. At the time, Zip Signs operated out of a small garage in west Burlington with one employee. Signs were painted by hand with a paintbrush, and invoices were hand-written on lined paper. Under Bennink’s direction, Zip Signs has been a leader in the industry, witnessing the introduction of neon in the 1980s, electronic signs in the 1990s, LED Technology in the 2000s, the implementation of flat panel lighting, and most recently, initiatives to “go green” to reduce a sign’s carbon footprint. To meet customers’ growing desire for environmental sustainability, two of Zip’s employees are accredited LEED Green Associates. Zip Signs maintains private ownership with approximately 85 employees in Burlington, Ontario and was a recent finalist in the 50 Top Managed Companies in Canada.
Dave Tonin, associate partner at Deloitte, comments on Zip Signs’ financial stability: “Zip has experienced profitability for the past 28 consecutive years, with over 18% compounded growth. It’s a dynamic company to work with.” Breckon Husband, manager of Aon’s Hamilton office echoed the comments of Deloitte by adding: “We are very proud of our partnership with Zip Signs and appreciative of the strong leadership and management team that has made them a recognized leader in their field.” Several celebrations will take place throughout the year to honour this milestone for Zip Signs.
