CUSTOMER
Shippensburg University is located on 200 acres in the Cumberland Valley of south-central Pennsylvania. It is nationally recognized for providing its students with an education of excellence and has served students throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and the country, for 132 years.
The facilities personnel at Shippensburg University are paving the way towards a better and brighter future for the campus by pursuing energy-efficient upgrades through the Guaranteed Energy Savings Program.
CHALLENGES
According to Rick Hertwig of Atlantic Energy Concepts, “A majority of the campus had outdated lighting fixtures and that is a two-fold problem; one is in maintenance costs and the other is in energy consumption.”
SOLUTION
Atlantic Energy Concepts undertook a lighting retrofit. The new energy-efficient lighting system will reduce the University’s energy cost by $226,842 annually.The biggest lighting change on campus took place in the Heiges Field House gym. Atlantic Energy Concepts replaced the existing HID light fixtures with new light fixtures that use energy-efficient T-5 high output lamps that consume much less energy than the previous 400-watt lamps. The light levels have been increased but the energy usage is much less.
“A unique feature installed in all of the buildings on this project is a 28- watt T-8 lamp,” Hertwig reported, “these lamps are an energy-saving version of the 32-watt T-8 lamps that have been on the market for some time.” The 28-watt lamps consume roughly 6% less energy than the standard 32-watt lamps.Atlantic Energy, working in conjunction with the energy services company (which provided other energy conservation methods) tailored a lighting system for each building that optimized energy-efficiency, improved overall lighting quality and reduced maintenance costs.
The new energy-efficient fixtures were tailored to meet the needs and tasks performed in each of the buildings. The light levels for the buildings meets the levels recommended by the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America, the professional and technical
organization that sets standards in the lighting industry.
The upgrades were initiated under the Guaranteed Energy Savings Program, which the University is using to fund the project, titled Pennsylvania’s energy savings performance contract Act 57. This process allows state entities to enter into an agreement with an energy service company (ESCO) to cover many aspects from lighting, HVAC systems, windows, roofs and other energy saving technologies. The project is structured so that the upgrades will generate enough savings in utility and operational cost to pay for the upgrades within a ten-year period, as mandated by Act 57.
Old lamps and ballasts were sent to a licensed recycling center where their components are separated for reuse, recycling or disposal.