CUSTOMER
The mission of the Conrad Weiser School District is to provide an educational environment which enables all students to acquire the abilities to profit from the past, contribute to the present, and succeed in the future. Therefore, Conrad Weiser is setting an example for their student’s to follow, conserving natural resources and maximizing the district’s finances.
CHALLENGES
Lighting levels were less than optimal in many classrooms, offices and common areas. How to increase lighting, while decreasing energy consumption and saving tax dollars presented a challenge for the district.
SOLUTION
That’s where Atlantic Energy Concepts stepped in. An energy-efficient lighting retrofit would reduce energy demands, and save tax dollars...but the best part of upgrading lighting systems at Conrad Weiser Schools was demonstrating an important classroom lesson: conserving natural resources.
“Addressing such a far-reaching environmental issue in an educational setting provided a real-life lesson to our students,” said Dr. Larry Schmidt, superintendent of the school district.
How do upgrading lights in the district’s two elementary and one junior-senior high schools conserve natural resources? Energy-efficient fluorescent lamps and ballasts use far less electricity than the lamps and ballasts that previously had lighted classrooms, cafeterias, gymnasiums, hallways and other areas for the district’s nearly 3,000 students, teachers and staff. That means power plants don’t have to burn as much coal or other nonrenewable energy resources to meet the schools’ energy needs. Natural resources last longer and the environment is cleaner because reducing electricity demand also reduces the amount of pollution produced from generating power.
The district also could have used the upgrades as a lesson in finance. Brad Salamone, of Atlantic Energy Concepts, said, “The cost of the systems and their installation is being paid with the savings in lower electricity costs, without the district increasing its operating or capital budgets by one thin dime.” In fact, the new lighting systems saved $33,000 in energy costs their first year of operation.
Besides conserving natural resources and tax dollars, the lighting systems improved the quality and level of illumination in the schools. Teachers commented on the difference when they turned the lights on the morning after the lighting upgrade had been performed.
Atlantic Energy Concepts tailored a lighting system for each school that optimized energy efficiency, improved overall lighting quality and reduced maintenance costs. “The systems achieved all three objectives,” Salamone reported.
After a full year of operation, the company presented an analysis of the systems’ performance to the school board. “We had projected a 40% energy savings and the results proved out the projections.”