{"70033":{"#nid":"70033","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Lighting Adjustments Lead to Energy Efficiency","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EShutting off the lights when leaving a room and using more energy-efficient light bulbs are easy, but effective, ways to improve energy efficiency \u2014 especially at Tech.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOne of our goals was to ensure that lights in campus common areas weren\u2019t on unless the room was occupied,\u201d said Michael Leasure, assistant director of energy conservation. \u201cBut the solution wasn\u2019t as simple as someone flipping a switch, even though the end result involves even less thought than turning off a light switch.\u201d \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESometimes the light switch in the area wasn\u2019t located at the entrance, so people couldn\u2019t easily access it when coming and going. In some older campus buildings, lights were turned off and on by a breaker in a switch panel, so there was no light switch at all, Leasure added. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe solution was to install an automated option that turns lights on if someone enters the area and off whenever an area is vacant for 15 minutes, and keeps emergency exit lighting on at all times. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFacilities also decided to change the light bulbs used in some buildings. Instead of using four T-12 fluorescent bulbs, they are currently upgrading fixtures so they can use two T-8 fluorescent bulbs. This requires gutting the light fixtures, installing new sockets for the bulbs and changing out the electronics that connect to the lights. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt\u2019s amazing, but when we changed from the T-12 to T-8 bulbs, the light readings were almost identical before and after the change,\u201d Leasure said. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFunding for both the automated lighting systems and fixtures is made possible through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), which provided Tech with $2.7 million to improve the energy efficiency of lighting on campus. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAbout 35 buildings will receive the automated systems and 29 will get the updated fixtures. One stipulation of the ARRA funding was that only buildings located on portions of campus funded by the state were eligible for the improvements, which does not include buildings that house, for example, parking or athletics. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBy using the automated lighting systems and new fixtures, Tech should save about $347,000 each year for the next four years. All of the work related to these upgrades should be complete by December.\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EQuestions? Email \u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:michael.leasure@facilities.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ELeasure\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EShutting off the lights when leaving a room and using more energy-efficient light bulbs are easy, but effective, ways to improve energy efficiency \u2014 especially at Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Automated systems, updated fixtures help reduce consumption"}],"uid":"27445","created_gmt":"2011-09-16 08:20:18","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:10:09","author":"Amelia Pavlik","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2011-09-16T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2011-09-16T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"70034":{"id":"70034","type":"image","title":"Sanford Fong, Facilities","body":null,"created":"1449177288","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:14:48","changed":"1475894614","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:34","alt":"Sanford Fong, Facilities","file":{"fid":"192892","name":"lighting.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/lighting_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/lighting_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2207578,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/lighting_0.jpg?itok=pLwx3lc-"}}},"media_ids":["70034"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.facilities.gatech.edu\/om\/conservation.php","title":"Facilities Energy Conservation"}],"groups":[{"id":"1259","name":"Whistle"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"14298","name":"American Recovery and Reinvestment Act"},{"id":"3639","name":"ARRA"},{"id":"12244","name":"energy efficiency"},{"id":"479","name":"Green Buzz"},{"id":"6219","name":"lighting"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:michael.leasure@facilities.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EMichael Leasure\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EEnergy Conservation\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}