LED Lighting Saves School Districts Green

School district administrators face seemingly impossible requirements of raising educational performance, lowering operating costs, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. High-efficiency, programmable, LED lighting upgrades are an ideal solution. Professional auditing, design, and installation practices deliver high-quality upgrades that immediately reduce energy use by more than 50% and eliminate nearly all lighting maintenance costs for the next 10 years. Lumenal Lighting’s turnkey method proves an essential resource for school districts:

• Washington and Oregon school districts partner with Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) and lighting contractors to pursue energy savings goals.
• Professional Lighting Consultants audit schools to take inventory of the existing lamps and fixtures.
• Lighting Designers develop replacement specifications to maximize energy reduction, maintain control functionality, and ensure end user satisfaction.
• Lumenal Lighting’s purchasing team sources material from trustworthy vendors to ensure quality and reliability.
• Teams of licensed Journeyman and Apprentice electricians install the new lamps and fixtures efficiently and up to code, minimizing disruption to school operations.
• School districts replace existing fluorescent and high intensity discharge (HID) lighting with LED lamps and fixtures to achieve energy savings and minimize maintenance costs.

Washington and Oregon School Districts Complete Lighting Projects

Energy is the second highest expenditure for K-12 schools after personnel costs. School districts and other public sector entities seek ways to reduce energy and maintenance costs. Ten districts completed LED lighting upgrade projects at 82 schools and administrative buildings in recent years with Lumenal Lighting. Several districts already plan to add more locations each year for further energy savings, lighting improvement, and maintenance cost reduction. Those 10 greener school districts are:

• Bethel School District in Washington
• Camas School District in Washington
• Enumclaw School District in Washington
• Kingston – North Kitsap School District in Washington
• Oak Harbor Public Schools in Washington
• Central Point School District 6 in Oregon
• Bethel School District – Eugene in Oregon
• Grants Pass School District in Oregon
• Portland Public Schools in Oregon
• Wishkah Valley School District in Washington

Local Utilities Incentivize LED Lighting Projects

Electrical utility companies recognize that LED lighting upgrades are an excellent way for facility owners and managers to increase energy efficiency. Lighting upgrades offer the best opportunity to reduce consumption and ensure utility companies keep up with demand. Reduced energy use is better for the planet and fosters positive public attitudes, too. Instead of building additional power plants or purchasing expensive electricity from other suppliers, utility companies offer cash incentives to their customers. The combination of avoiding infrastructure costs through incentives and cash refunds on LED lighting projects is a win-win solution for everyone.

High-efficiency LED lighting that helps children learn today is the optimal solution to help preserve their planet for tomorrow.

– Bobbi McLeod, LC, Lighting Designer, Lumenal Lighting

School Lighting Upgrades Help the Planet

School LED lighting upgrades in Washington and Oregon reduced annual energy usage by over 6.2M kilowatt-hours (kWh). Lumenal Lighting helped schools accomplish this feat by first removing inefficient older lighting technologies. Lumenal then installed quality, high-efficacy LED lamps, retrofit kits, and fixtures, thus reducing energy usage equivalent to 4,417 metric tons of carbon dioxide. What do those numbers mean in real world terms?

• Equivalent to the greenhouse gas emissions from 961 passenger vehicles driven for one year
• Comparable to the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from 497,032 gallons of gasoline
• Equals the CO2 emissions from the annual electrical energy used by 802 homes
• The same amount of carbon dioxide removed from the environment would have required 5,412 ACRES of forest to accomplish
• Comparable to 215 garbage trucks full of waste recycled instead of landfilled

View our complete 2021 Report Card from the United States Environmental Protection Agency [PDF].

LED Lighting Offers Color Changing Options

LED lighting reduces energy use and maintenance costs, while allowing greater customization than earlier lighting technologies. LED lighting is not restricted to one light color or one light level. Programmable LED fixtures offer varying light colors and intensities for different times of the day or activities. Variable lighting proves especially useful in an educational setting. Teachers may implement crisp, bluer light for an early morning boost. Conversely, they may tune the lighting experience to dimmed, warmer tones to help students transition back to classroom mode following recess. LED Lighting Consultants identify facility areas that may benefit from customizable lighting solutions, thus maximizing satisfaction, safety, and productivity.

Start Saving Money and Greening Your Operations Now

Contact us online or call Lumenal Lighting at (425) 481-5001 today to start your school district’s LED Lighting Upgrade Project

Citations

• United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) – Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator
• Lumenal Lighting – Government & Public Sector Entities
• Lumenal Lighting – Lighting Utility Rebates Analysis
• Illuminating Engineering Society – Lessons in the Classroom – Tunable Lights
• Energy Trust of Oregon – Business Lighting Incentives [PDF]