News

29 April 2010

 

USG and University of Western Ontario join Cree LED University program

LED chip, lamp and lighting fixture maker Cree Inc of Durham, NC, USA says that the Universities at Shady Grove (USG) has joined its LED University program.

Launched in April 2008, the LED University initiative is an international community of universities working to evaluate, deploy and promote the adoption of energy-efficient LEDs across their campus infrastructures (in areas such as offices, student housing, parking garages, walkways and streets). The aim is to save energy, protect the environment, reduce maintenance costs, and provide better light quality for improved visibility and safety.

USG recently opened its first LED-lit parking garage, featuring more than 200 LED fixtures in the new 193,000ft2 structure. “We were so pleased with the results of this initial LED lighting deployment we have subsequently changed the lighting in Parking Lot #2 on the south side of campus—where 23 LED fixtures replaced 31 high-pressure sodium and metal halide fixtures,” director of USG's administration and finance Karen Mitchell.

Located on the north side of USG’s campus, the garage features LED lighting applications throughout all decks, including in the elevator lobbies, stairwells, the pedestrian walkway and the outside driveway. USG anticipates savings of 189,000kW-hrs per year by using LEDs as opposed to traditional lighting sources. The garage also includes daylight sensors to reduce power requirements and light pollution. Additionally, a stairwell canopy is equipped with LED lights powered by a solar panel.

Also, last week, the University of Western Ontario became the first university in Canada to join the Cree LED University program. Its initial LED lighting installations, combined with planned installations throughout 2010, are predicted to save Western more than $750,000 in energy and maintenance savings over ten years.

“We’ve adopted LED lighting in many key areas around campus and have experienced improved light levels and a reduction in energy consumption,” says Roy Langille, associate vice-president, Physical Plant and Capital Planning Services (PPD) at Western. “Maintenance savings are another driving force behind these installations, and most of the LED retrofits are showing strong returns on investments, ranging from a few months to an average of just four years,” he adds.

Tim Munro, consultant at LED Lighting Gallery, suggests that the lighting has an added benefit of safety: “By measuring light levels before and after, and using proven LED fixtures, we are able to deliver higher quality light—making areas feel safer for students, faculty and visitors—while also saving money for the university.” With more than 100 LED lighting installations to date, Western is already seeing more than 70–90% energy savings.

USG and Western join Cree LED University’s inaugural participant North Carolina State University as well as University of California at Santa Barbara, the University of Arkansas, Marquette University, the University of Notre Dame, University of California, Davis, the University of Miami, the University of Alaska at Anchorage, Arizona State University, Madison Area Technical College, Joliet Junior College, Alfred University and Milwaukee Area Technical College in the USA, as well as Tianjin Polytechnic University in China

Cree LED University participants such as North Carolina State University, University of California, Santa Barbara, Notre Dame, University of California, University of Miami and Tianjin Polytechnic University in China in evaluating, promoting, and deploying LED lighting as they work towards increasing energy savings, protecting the environment, reducing maintenance costs, and providing better light quality for improved visibility and safety.

Search: LED University program Cree LEDs

Visit: www.leduniversity.org