Our Sustainable Campus - Lights out on inefficienty

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By Brandon Watson
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Physical Plant is turning the corner on a five year plan to eliminate inefficient lighting on campus.
As the project enters its final years, there is definitely, sustainable light at the end of the tunnel.
 
Mike Wolowich, Physical Plant Energy Electrical Engineer, has been steering the retrofitting project and is more than optimistic about the projected results.
 
Energy-saving T8 ballasts are replacing nearly 50,000 T12 fixtures that illuminate the rooms and halls in dozens of campus buildings. According to the figures in the audit, conducted by King Energy Management Inc., the project will pay for itself through energy savings in about three years.
 
The new fixtures are estimated to use at least 30 per cent less energy than that of its predecessor. “The new lamps have a lot of advantages," says Wolowich. “In addition to being more efficient, the quality of light output is much greater."
 
At half of their rated life, standard T12 lamps produce only about 80 per cent of their initial rated light output, compared to about 95 per cent for T8 lamps. Furthermore, the light from T8 lamps has a higher "color rendering index," or CRI, than standard T12s. The higher CRI makes objects and surfaces in a room appear more like they would under natural light.
 
Aside from the retrofit project, all new capital projects involving new light fluorescent fixtures will have T8s installed.
 
Housing has also begun to replace their inefficient light sources. Housing Assistant-Director, Chris Bumbacco, has partnered with London Hydro to begin converting the standard incandescent light bulbs to more energy efficient compact fluorescents (CFL) in residence fixtures.
 
“London Hydro has helped by subsidizing the purchase of 11,000 compact fluorescent bulbs for use in Platt's Lane Estates, the Glenmore Apartments, and the residences," says Bumbacco.
 
Traditional-style residences and the apartments had 9,000 bulbs changed out by September and the rest are being slowly implemented into the remaining buildings. Once the last 2,000 bulbs have been changed, it is estimated that there will be a savings of $300,000 to $400,000 over the life of the new bulbs. As an added bonus, the compact bulbs that were purchased contain the lowest level of mercury of any bulb on the market.
 
“There are some dramatic changes being made to eliminate incandescent lighting on campus and it is no secret that type of lighting will soon be a thing of the past," says Wolowich. In 2012, Canada will put a ban on the sale of incandescent lighting, cited as responsible for unnecessary energy consumption.
 
It is still ideal to turn the lights off when you leave the room, but converting to T8 fixtures is the best option for when they must be on!  
 

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