Image 1: LED lighting fixtures (Source: Berkeley Lab)
Asset Score Recommendation: Upgrade to LED fixtures
Cost: $$
Lighting constitutes about 14% of the total energy consumption in schools, as highlighted in the Advanced Energy Retrofit Guide for K-12 Schools. Outdated and inefficient lighting systems not only contribute to this energy use but also tend to offer inadequate illumination with subpar color quality, negatively impacting student performance.
Updating lighting to LED fixtures is a smart and energy-efficient way to enhance a building's lighting environment. LED, or Light Emitting Diode, technology has become increasingly popular due to its numerous advantages over traditional lighting options.
One of the major advantages LED fixtures have is energy efficiency. They consume significantly less electricity than traditional incandescent and fluorescent lights. This can lead to substantial cost savings on energy bills over time. LED technology converts a higher percentage of energy into light, minimizing wasted energy as heat. When you use LED lighting in air conditioned spaces, the electricity savings are even higher. You are not only reducing the power consumption by the lighting system itself, but also the heat that must be removed by cooling equipment. Other advantages include longevity, durability and flexibility, instant lighting and dimming, cost savings and much more.
The Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) provides efficiency requirements for commercial and industrial LED Luminaries (as shown in image 2).
Image 2: Efficiency requirements for commercial and industrial LED Luminaries (Source: FEMP 2022)
Resources:
- https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/led-lighting
- https://www.energy.gov/femp/purchasing-energy-efficient-commercial-and-industrial-led-luminaires