Facilities Management & Real Property Management is always looking toward maintaining a sustainable, safe and comfortable campus for all those who visit, work and reside at Longwood University. One of the latest initiatives still in the works involves making a more concise and sustainable plan when it comes to lighting Longwood's campus.
Space Planning and Real Property Manger Louise Waller said the department is looking at various ways in which to electronically control pedestrian lights on campus. Currently, the majority of lights on campus are on a timer system. The timer is set at a specific time and the lights come on and go off each day according to the timer setting. "It really is quite a big effort to making sure they come on and go off at the right time," said Waller.
She said the future of the project is currently an issue of money. That is the main reason why Waller could not provide a concrete timeline of when work on creating a uniform lighting system based on computer automation will commence. While it may not occur in the near future, Waller said it is on the list of goals for the department.
Energy Manager Kevin Miller said one of the forms of technology he is looking in to using is a photocell. This method involves measuring the amount of sunlight available and having lights come on based on when the sun sets each day. This would be similar to dusk to dawn lights.
Miller said he is also exploring options for better performance and possibly re-lamping some of the units for consistency and uniformity. "Any architectural lights that don't need to be on for safety are under this," said Miller.
Currently, the idea is in the budget planning states. Miller said he is also toying with the option of replacing the current light bulbs with LED lamps. He said this would not only save money in the end, but it would also save energy and be more sustainable, a concept the university and department is working hard to promote.
"Once we figure out which way to go, we will go through funding sources," said Miller. He said much of how this project progresses does depend on the funding, like Waller said. He hopes to have some plan ironed out in the next fiscal year to move toward the next steps of planning.
The lights affected would be those black lamps that line the sidewalk areas on campus. It would not affect lighting such as that inside buildings, which Miller said must stay on 24/7 for safety reasons.
Currently there are two buildings on campus that are commanded through an automation system. This system is housed within these specific buildings. The rest of the lights around campus run off of a timer clock. Twice a year, including this past weekend, extra man hours are put into setting these timers to observe time changes with the beginning and end of Daylight Saving Time. Miller said a new system would help to eliminate this and create a much more efficient system that can continue to keep the campus community safe.
