About John
John has been working in Facilities Management at BC for two years and was instrumental in
managing a lighting renovations project over Christmas break to make BC more energy efficient. In addition, he has researched the use of energy efficient compressors to maintain the ice in Conte Forum. Outside of work, he tries to reduce his family's carbon footprint by investing in energy efficient lighting, and conserving water.
John and the 2009 Christmas Break Lighting Retrofit
While the BC community was enjoying time with family over the break, John managed a project to renovate the lighting systems in many of BC’s residence halls and classroom buildings. The purpose of this project is not only to save money and energy, but also to provide these areas with better quality and more uniform lighting.
He and his team have already gone through Voute, Carney, Gasson, Gabelli, Bapst, St. Mary's, Haley House and Greycliff replacing the lighting with more efficient flouresce
nt technology, and the old magnetic ballasts with new electronic ones. Ballasts are devices that control the amount of current that is released into the bulb. The old magnetic ballasts were inefficient because they continued to use energy even when the bulbs were burned out. These new fixtures will use 350,000 fewer kilowatt hours yearly, which equates to apprximately 215 tons of carbon dioxide and roughly the energy used by 30 American homes in one year. This
project has a "real benefit in terms of the annual savings on electricity and the reduced environmental impact." What happens to all of the waste? All of the old light bulbs and ballasts are 100% recycled. There are also plans for Walsh, Edmonds, Ignacio, and Rubenstein to receive lighting upgrades as well.
advice
Since the beginning of this project, John has been able to experience first hand the benefits of switching to more efficient technology. He observed the obvious financial payback, but also what it meant to overall energy consumption, as it cut the retrofitted buildings’ energy almost in half. Given this exposure, he has noticed how important the small things are in making big change. It comes down to personal willingness to reform wasteful habits; it is important to realize that small changes add up. If everyone turned off a light in an empty room, it would save a lot!
For energy saving conversions, go here.