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While many people were putting up holiday lights in their homes, the University of New Haven’s Office of Facilities spent part of Winter Break installing new lighting in Bartels Hall, the campus center, and in the Beckerman Recreation Center.

This project was a result of the University’s biweekly energy opportunity meetings, where a group of building operations staff members work to identify significant energy savings opportunities, as well as incentives available from United Illuminating for instituting energy-efficient lighting solutions.

The University is currently in the process of converting the lighting in its buildings to LED, which is the most energy-efficient technology available. This conversion typically results in as much as a 70 percent reduction in energy use. The bulbs also last up to 25 times longer, resulting in additional savings.

In Bartels, the fluorescent general-lighting fixtures were replaced with new LED fixtures, improving light distribution and light levels in the lounges and office areas. The general lighting fixtures in the Beckerman Recreation Center were also retrofitted with LEDs to optimize both cost and performance.

The most significant upgrade was replacing the high-bay induction lighting over the court with new LED high-bay fixtures and advanced controls. The new lights are now controlled remotely via software called Lightcloud. Lightcloud technology uses occupancy and vacancy sensing, as well as daylight harvesting, which works by sensing the level of natural light to dim the court lighting appropriately to reduce energy use during the day.

The total impact of both of these lighting projects will lead to an annual savings of 244,000 kWh, or approximately $45,100, every year. As a result of these updates, the University has also received United Illuminating incentives of $140,000.

If the new lighting control system works as well as expected, Facilities anticipates retrofitting other large areas, such as Bucknall Theater, that could benefit from these high-tech lighting controls.