DAY 1: And It Begins!!!! – 5/20/10
Today, we began the day with a brief light bulb tutorial. Jim McGaffin, Ass’t Director for Energy and Project Management, explained to us the different overhead interior light bulb types. The two bulbs that are most prevalent on our campus include the 4ft T-12 and T-8 models.
From some basic calculations, we found that the T-12 requires about 48 W and the T-8 requires 32 W of power to operate. Jim proceeded to show us the benefits of LED comparable replacements for these bulbs. Such replacements use about 1W per foot. Therefore, a 4 foot bulb would need about 4W of power, a significant decrease for the less efficient fluorescent alternative.
In addition, we briefly explored the multiple electrical sources including nuclear, oil, coal, wind, and hydroelectric power. After some discussion, we came to the conclusion that the valued and used sources of power were coal and nuclear plants. However, we assume based on PECO data that about half the power is accumulated from oil and coal plants. We will use this assumption in our carbon emission calculations.
With our newly acquired knowledge, we headed over to Radnor Hall to identify light fixtures that would be good candidates for LED replacement. Jim explained to us that lights used for direct and downward lighting would be perfect for LED replacement. The current fluorescent bulbs dispersed light in all directions, a waste of power and a net total loss of lumens, measure of luminous flux or quantity of light emitted by a source. Thus, closed top fixtures would be better equipped with LED bulbs that emit light solely in a downward direction.
We set off next to Rhys Carpenter Library where we met with the assistant librarian Jeremy who assisted us with the general layout of the library. After some guidance, Yufan and I went to work, counting various types and sizes of lights that could be replaced with their LED alternatives. We found that the stacks required the most lighting as well as larger lecture halls and classrooms that were on the Level B. A new discovery included the number of light fixtures attached to carrels. Each carrel in the library contains one T-8 fluorescent bulb. In addition, we came across two new bulbs that we had never seen before; the T-8 fluorescent curved bulb and coiled spotlight bulb that we could not identify due to height restrictions.
Rhys Carpenter Library
Yufan and I completed the initial count of light bulbs for Rhys Carpenter Library this afternoon and began consolidating the data. For the next week, we plan on doing the ROI and carbon emission calculations as well as drafting an initial report for Jim to review on Thursday.
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