In the past few years, health care and schools alike have taken a second look at their respective facilities to challenge the norm. The cold, clinical setting of hospitals is being replaced by a warmer and more welcoming environment, which helps ease the stress felt by patients and their families. Schools too are enhancing classrooms and other spaces to provide students and faculty with a comfortable setting conducive to learning and teaching. These transformations happen on a number of levels. One of the most easily accomplished, and impactful measures hospitals and schools can take is upgrading their lighting systems.

Good lighting is more than just pleasing to the eye. It is a smart, cost-effective way to enhance any environment by creating a more attractive and appealing atmosphere for schools and hospitals while increasing both safety and security. Studies have been published demonstrating that lighting can positively affect task accuracy, patient recovery times and student learning, providing additional incentive to evaluate the lighting scenarios in both health care and educational facilities.

The Heiges Field House Gym was originally lit by 400-watt metal halide lamps before
the energy-saving makeover. In order to reduce energy and improve the
light levels in the gym, high efficiency fluorescent lamp systems with electronic
ballasts were installed, which also added the benefit of instant light and hot
restrike capabilities to the space.

Lighting and Energy Costs
According to the Department of Energy, lighting represents 29% of the electric expense in school buildings and over 40% in the nation’s 8,000 hospitals, which are among our most energy-intensive commercial buildings, spending more than $5 billion annually on energy. With an upgrade to energy-efficient lighting, energy savings can be up to 50% for schools and hospitals. Driving energy savings initiatives has been a focus of President Barack Obama’s administration, making this an ideal time to seek additional financial support beyond existing rebates or tax incentives.

The ongoing cost of maintaining the average lighting system is derived from:
• Material costs – the cost of the lamps;
• Labor costs – the cost to replace the lamps;
• Energy costs – the cost of energy consumed to operate the lamps;
• Recycling costs – removal and disposal of spent lamps in a way that does not negatively impact the environment.

Of these, energy costs represent the biggest and best opportunity for savings. Eighty-six percent of the total cost of maintaining a lighting system goes to providing electricity to the application, says the Illumination Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) Lighting Handbook, 9th edition. The material cost of a lighting system is small, three percent, compared to the cost of energy to operate it.

It is important to look beyond the initial capital investment of upgrading a lighting system and consider long-term benefits and paybacks, as the process can have a huge impact on operating expenses and the bottom line. Many of these systems utilize long life lamps, reducing the maintenance and labor requirements due to fewer lamp replacements, which save the facility energy and money.

Design and Function
Contrary to the belief of many, energy-efficient lighting need not sacrifice attractive design and function. The quality of the light produced by energy-efficient technologies, such as fluorescent and metal halide systems, has improved greatly over the years. Coupled with advances in electronic ballast technology, smart control systems, and improved optics in luminaire design, stylish environments can be created that enhance occupant comfort and productivity, while consuming much less energy and costing much less to operate and maintain. In outdoor spaces, the improved efficiency and lamp life of pulse start metal halide and induction fluorescent technologies bring tremendous performance and maintenance savings to recreation areas and parking lots alike. The optical precision of LED technology allows light trespass and dark sky objectives to be addressed efficiently and with ease.

The stark institutional feel of hospitals is being replaced by more cozy environments with a calming, residential richness. High color-rendering index (CRI) fluorescent and metal halide lamps are available in the same warm color temperatures (2700 and 3000 Kelvin) characteristic of incandescent or halogen lamps. Compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) are now available with engineered phosphor blends that enhance the deep red color palette, as are metal halide lamps. Electronic ballasts and dimming systems have facilitated the ability to incorporate multiple lighting scenes in a single space, accommodating the needs of health care providers, patients, and visitors throughout the day. Advancements in LED technology have brought simple and efficient dynamic color-changing displays into pediatric units and cancer treatment centers to add whimsy and visual interest.

Many of the nation’s educational facilities were designed and built decades ago, before the proliferation of computer systems and high tech A/V systems in the classroom. Designed illuminance levels were much higher than what is recommended today. The horizontal tasks involved pencil on paper, and vertical tasks involved chalk on a blackboard. Today, we have computers with LCD monitors in many classrooms, white boards, and video projectors, which has lowered the required light levels and created new concerns regarding controlling glare.

Classroom spaces are ideal for daylight harvesting scenarios, where significant energy savings may be obtained by dimming or extinguishing light fixtures along exterior windows when ample daylight is present. Innovations in lighting equipment have made retrofitting existing spaces simple, even eliminating the need to rewire a facility to incorporate occupancy sensing, dimming, or daylight harvesting schemes. Ideally suited for retrofits are the high efficiency electronic fluorescent ballasts now available that can accept signals from both low voltage controls and power line dimmers simultaneously – without requiring changes to existing wiring. This flexibility has improved the ability of multi-functional spaces in schools to accommodate an even greater variety of events.

The energy savings from upgrading a lighting system can be staggering depending on the existing
situation. Simply retrofitting old fluorescent systems with the most efficient lamps and ballasts can cut energy consumption by 40% or more. The “right-sizing” of an over lit space can bring an added bonus. Changing a light fixture to one with improved optical design can boost that savings by as much as another 20%. Incorporating occupancy sensing and daylight harvesting schemes can save well over 30%, depending on usage patterns in the facility. Lighting technology has advanced so rapidly in recent years that upgrading a facility that was renovated as little as five years ago can have an ROI as low as two years.

Hospital Retrofit
The California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC) in San Francisco upgraded its lighting systems throughout multiple sites on their main campus. The original lighting systems consisted of older T12 magnetic systems and 1st generation T8 lamp systems. These older products were replaced with the energy- efficient T8 lamps and high efficiency electronic ballasts. Additional energy savings were achieved with the installation of occupancy control devices where applicable. The T8 lamps selected also provided high color quality, since color was critical for surgical rooms and the wellbeing of patients.

Compact fluorescent lamps are now available with engineered phosphor blends that
enhance the deep red color palette. These lamps are suitable for creating warm,
inviting environments in offices, hospitals, school dormitories, etc.

CPMC achieved their project goals through the upgrade and retrofit of one campus, with three more scheduled to be completed in Fall 2009. Thanks to the winning combination of energy-efficient products and a substantial utility rebate, CPMC was able to achieve a payback of less than two years (1.75 years). With the first phase of the project complete CPMC saves $247,200 annually on energy costs and with the completion of the second phase the medical center will be saving a total of $918,172 in annual energy costs.

School Retrofit
Atlantic Energy Concepts retrofitted 35 buildings, and a total of 12,856 fixtures at Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania. Dormitories were relit with CFLs, which took the place of the less energy-efficient incandescent lamps that the school had been using for many years. Existing high pressure sodium lamps used for outdoor lighting in parking lots and walkways were replaced with metal halide fixtures, which provided clearer images from outdoor security cameras throughout campus. The field house was retrofitted with T5 fluorescent lamps.

As a result, Shippensburg University reduced their energy costs and environmental impact, while increasing light levels on campus in areas where necessary. The university saves 2,855,930 kWh in energy and benefits from a cost savings of $166,000 annually.

Lamp Disposal
By implementing energy-efficient lighting, hospitals and schools can reduce their environmental impact, advance “green building” objectives, and yield bottom line savings without having an adverse impact on patients, students, staff and visitors. However, it is important to keep in mind that some energy-efficient lighting products, such as fluorescent lamps, CFLs, and high intensity discharge (HID) lamps contain small amounts of mercury. Lamp disposal regulations change periodically and facility managers should ensure that lamps are disposed of in accordance with local, state, and federal regulations.

Recycling is the best way to dispose of these products without harming the environment. Many lighting providers have made lamp and ballast recycling easy for their customers by providing pre-labeled and pre-paid return ship recycling boxes to fill with unbroken, spent lamps and ballasts to ship directly to a recycling vendor. Lamp disposal and recycling is also part of many service and maintenance contracts with lighting service companies, making it easy for schools and hospitals to dispose of lamps responsibly. For more information about recycling regulations and recycling service providers you can visit http://www.lamprecycle.org/.

Over the life cycle of a fluorescent lamp, the cost to recycle today is less than 1% of the cost of ownership. Environmentally responsible companies who put lamp recycling in their budgets can maintain energy- efficient lighting and still stay on the path to sustainability.

Karen Lee is the head of applications marketing for OSRAM SYLVANIA and holds two patents. She is responsible for driving the integration of lighting application expertise into product development and industry training.