By Dave Millay, Physical Plant Manager

Energy conservation is a major component of any sustainability program, and UALR has taken significant steps to reduce energy consumption across campus. Energy conservation takes many forms, one prevailing opportunity being in the form of reduced consumption through lighting improvement projects. Not only can lighting modifications reduce electricity consumption, but use of new technology can actually improve lighting quality and reduce maintenance costs while saving dollars.

One such project was recently undertaken in the UALR parking garage. The project was conceived, recommended, and carried out by the UALR physical plant electric shop led by shop manager Benny Stringfellow. In the garage, there are 313 lighting fixtures which the UALR Electric Shop recently retrofitted from metal halide to fluorescent technology. The metal halide fixtures consumed 175 watts per fixture compared to the fluorescent fixtures, which consume 108 watts. The fluorescent fixtures are electronically ballasted T5s. With 313 retrofitted fixtures, UALR realized a 20,971-watt reduction in consumption.

Clearly this is a tremendous savings in the cost of operation, not to mention the reduction of UALR’s carbon footprint. But, this is not the entire story. The cost of a 175-watt metal halide bulb is about $28 compared to about $10.50 to replace two T5 fluorescent tubes. And there’s more. Fluorescent tubes have a life of about 20,000-25,000 hours compared to the 10,000-hour metal halides. Labor costs are also reduced. The bottom line savings in cost of energy alone is roughly $22,000 annually.

Hats off to Benny Stringfellow and all the electricians in his shop for undertaking this project that produced better lighting, reduced energy consumption, reduced energy and maintenance costs, and reduced UALR’s carbon footprint. That’s a sustainable success story.