Exterior Campus Lighting Audit

Last week, Alan Dykes, the Energy Manager for the cities of Winfield, Wellington, and Ark City took a tour of the SC campus night-time lighting to determine the current lighting’s effectiveness in safely illuminating the campus and to make recommendations on making the lighting more energy efficient. Accompanied by SGA Student Concerns committee representative Jessica McIver and Green Team members Sarah Rommelfanger, Ashley Bruno, and Stephen Strecker, Alan was able to evaluate the lumens (units of light intensity) and the placement of light fixtures around campus. The good news is that Alan felt that the light fixtures already present around the campus would provide sufficient light to make the campus a safe environment at night, if equipped with bulbs of appropriate wattage. This means that the only shortfalls in making SC properly lit at night is to replace burnt-out bulbs in existing fixtures. 

This is an exciting opportunity for the Green Team because Alan was also able to recommend types of bulbs that would be a great deal more energy efficient than the ones previously used in the unlit fixtures. The types of bulbs he recommended would be mostly energy efficient LED retrofitted bulbs. The new bulbs can go right into the existing fixtures, which helps cut costs. These LED bulbs are expensive, but they are also estimated to last 18-22 years, and use a fraction of the electricity that the normal bulbs use. They would also provide a white light which provides greater color definition than the yellowish high-pressure sodium bulbs at a lower lumen output so that the campus is safely visible without using excessive wattage.

The Green Team and the SGA Student Concerns committee plan to work together and compose a proposal using Alan’s expert advice to get the burnt out lights on campus replaced with these more energy efficient bulbs.

Changes toward sustainability don’t have to be a complete overhaul of the system, right down to ground level. One small step at a time can end up making a big difference.

Author: Sarah Rommelfanger