This University is a 500,000 square foot private campus situated along the coast in California. The University established a strong environmental stance, in part due to its location on the ecologically sensitive Pacific Coast, maintaining a rigorous recycling program earning recognition from the California Waste Reduction Awards Program (WRAP). The campus, built in the 1960’s, contained a mixture of lighting systems. The age of the buildings was cause for challenges. The campus library had low ceilings and still used 1960’s era light fixtures. The campus gymnasium also was an area of special concern with its current low light output.
To enhance efficiency and lessen the environmental impact of the campus, the University contracted with an Energy Services Company (ESCO) to implement a campus-wide energy savings program through HVAC and lighting systems retrofits. The team from Chateau Energy Solutions partnered with the ESCO for the lighting portion of the contract after demonstrating a thorough understanding of the University’s expectations and standards. Because of the age and mixture of lighting systems, Chateau Energy Solutions had to engineer a customized lighting system producing maximum energy savings for the University.
The campus library required Chateau Energy Solutions to engineer custom replacement fixtures. The end product was energy efficient fixtures, fitting with custom-designed lenses less than three inches deep. These fixtures dramatically improved light quality and color rendering in the library while providing extra clearance.
The campus gymnasium also required some unique ideas, and Chateau Energy Solutions responded with custom new energy-efficient lighting components, engineered to provide a perfect fit to the convex contour of the gymnasium ceiling. The primary solution used elsewhere was campus-wide retrofits using highly energy-efficient fixtures for maximum efficiency, which produced greater energy savings.
The lighting solution performed by Chateau Energy Solutions entailed a 44-day project retrofitting almost 1,400 fixtures in 14 campus buildings, producing nearly $50,000 in annual energy savings leading to a simple payback of just more than 2.5 years. However, the design and installation was by no means simple or straightforward.
Furthermore, in keeping with the University’s commitment to the environment, all lamps, ballasts, wiring, and fixture bodies removed during the retrofit were recycled in an ecologically sound manner.
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