Smart Garage Lighting initiative announced
Anyone can see the lights from I-80. The south entry parking lots and garage are all a glow and it is 3:00 A.M.! No one is around. Yet, UC Davis is paying the price, an estimated annual electric bill of $400,000 at 7 cents for the core campus. For two years, the California Lighting Technology Center (CLTC) and Facilities Management, in partnership with TAPS, the Campus Police Department, and Pacific Gas and Electric Co, have been working on various technologies to reduce that bill. This year along with the Energy Efficiency Center (EEC), they have launched the "Smart Energy Initiative," an effort to reduce garage and parking lot lighting by between 30-50%. The campus benefits are threefold: reduction of maintenance costs, enhancement of security, and less consumption of electricity. "Garages and parking lots are particularly juicy," says Michael Siminovitch, Director of the CLTC, "Juicy" in terms of energy use and the potential for savings, without sacrificing safety. For complete story, click here.
To inaugurate this effort, on March 17, 2008, top UC Davis administrators joined faculty and staff from the CLTC, Facilities Management, and the Energy Efficiency Center. Since 2007, CLTC has been working with industry partners to develop prototypes that integrate bi-level lighting controls on metal halide, fluorescent, and LED fixtures. The “Smart Lighting” technology allows a lower level of light to be maintained during periods of zero occupancy. Occupancy sensors switch lights to full capacity upon detection of someone entering the structure or parking lot. The bi-level control will enhance security as well as reduce energy consumption by approximately 50%. The Mondavi Administrative Parking Lot (shown to right) is the first of six demonstration sites selected for this initiative. For more information about EEC programs and projects in energy efficient buildings, please click here.
This small demonstration project which began in the north entry garage is turning into a permanent project throughout the three-floor garage, offering improved safety and reduced electricity use. The work that started Oct 28 and is scheduled to run through Nov. 28, workers are retrofitting the garage lighting -- putting in fixtures that include occupancy sensors. Each overhead light (340 in all) will work at 50 percent power until the sensor detects motion, say, a person or a car. Then the light will bump up to 100 percent. After the motion goes away, the light will remain at 100 percent for a time until dropping back to 50 percent. Officials say the sensor equipment will save about $25,000 a year in maintenance and energy costs. While energy use goes down, safety goes up, officials say, because, as you are walking to your car, you may notice a light bump up to full power -- not because you are anywhere near that light, but because someone may be lurking among the parked cars. The retrofit is being done in phases, to limit the number of spaces that are blocked off. On any given day, about 50 to 70 spaces will be unavailable. Signs are being posted to inform drivers of which floors where work is going on each day.