UpDate - Vol. 15, No. 14, Page 6
December 7, 1995
Campus conservation efforts result in energy savings

     The latest in a continuing series of conservation efforts has
been put into place to cut energy consumption and reduce associated
costs throughout the campus.
     According to Dick Walter, director, Facilities Management, the
energy- and cost-avoidance programs include the installation of motion
detectors to control lighting in classrooms, long-lasting LED units in
exit signs and use of underground spring water to assist with the
heating and cooling of campus buildings.
     Since October, employees in the electrical shop of Facilities
Management have been installing motion detectors in 160 larger
classrooms on campus.
     The highly sophisticated units are programmed to automatically
shut off classroom lighting if there is no motion for 15 minutes.
     According to Dan Thompson, electrical services supervisor in
Facilities Management, the switches can still be operated manually,
but the sensors will automatically shut off the lights when the rooms
are unused.
     Walter said the $80,000 cost of the first phase of the motion
detector project will be recovered in two years through reduction of
electrical consumption. Included in the first phase of the project are
lecture halls and larger classrooms in Smith, Alison, Evans, Worrilow,
Kirkbride and Pearson halls, plus Brown, Spencer and Sharp
laboratories among others.
     Walter added that motion detector technology is already included
in new buildings on campus, such as the new student center.
     The second project involves interior "exit" lights, which contain
incandescent and fluorescent bulbs.
     Signs illuminated by incandescent bulbs, Walter said, burn out
and must be replaced about seven times a year.
     Currently, 1,280 exit signs are being replaced with lighting
emitting diode (LED) units that will last approximately 30 years.
     According to Thompson, the project's $80,000 cost will be
recovered within a few years. Annual energy consumption expenses will
be reduced from the current exit lighting cost of approximately
$16,000 to about $2,000, with additional savings through reduced labor
costs.
     "The most important reason for the project," Walter said, "is
that the exit lights will all be lit and conditions will be safer. The
LEDs will eliminate periods when they are not operating because staff
is not always aware bulbs need replacing."
     Substantial reductions also are being recovered through
installation of a pipe in Lammot du Pont Laboratory that annually
redirects 9 million gallons of water from an underground spring to the
central utility plant to be used in campus heating and cooling. The
$30,000 cost will be recovered in two years, according to Walter.
     "In spite of new construction on campus," Walter said, "the total
campus energy consumption has remained constant or dropped over the
last six years, and that is significant."
                                                         -Ed Okonowicz