Application: School   Location: Philipsburg-Osceola School District Product: OCTRON XP lamps, DULUX EL lamps, QUICKTRONIC PLUS ballasts ESCO:  Vestar Inc. Literature: OCTRON XP PIB:  Download     DULUX EL PIB:  Download QUICKTRONIC PLUS:  Download

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School District to save $70,000 annually after lighting retrofit
 

Taxpayers will soon reap the benefits of energy- savings as work concludes on an energy-efficiency project at the Philipsburg-Osceola School District. Vestar, Inc., an affiliate of Cinergy Corp. (NYSE:CIN) and an energy service company specializing in facility and infrastructure solutions, began improvements earlier this year that will save the school district more than $70,000 annually. The initiative, known as the Act 57 Energy Saving Project, was implemented at the Philipsburg-Osceola Area Senior High School, Philipsburg-Osceola Area Junior High School, Osceola Mills Elementary School, North Lincoln Hill Elementary School and Wallaceton-Boggs Elementary School.

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A portion of the project includes an enhanced lighting system that provides greater color acuity and reduces energy, operating and general maintenance costs. The new lamps also decrease mercury pollution, decreasing the annual level of greenhouse emissions by 35 tons. Added features of the lighting system include motion sensors that conserve energy when a room is not in use.

The existing lighting fixtures and lamps have been upgraded with more energy efficient lighting technologies. Each building was assessed to determine the viability of either lighting retrofits or redesigns. Prior to the lighting retrofit, most lamps in the facilities were T12 fluorescents with electromagnetic ballasts.  Philipsburg-Osceola Area School District worked with VESTAR to replace these lamps with T8 lamps and electronic ballasts.  In addition, incandescent lamps were replaced with compact fluorescent lamps, which are more efficient.

The new system provides more accurate color acuity, reduces energy and operating costs, and also reduces maintenance costs.  These savings will enable the new lighting system to pay for itself in less than seven years! The new lighting system will save $54,000 every year. The new lamps last longer  (lamp life is 24,000 hours!) and provide more light which is closer to sunlight in quality.

One of the more notable changes took place in the Junior High School Gymnasium.
At the Junior High School, VESTAR replaced the High Intensity Discharge, recessed, 2'x2' luminaires one for one with new surface mounted SYLVANIA FO32 841XP/ECO 2'x4' 6-lamp fluorescent lights, and Sylvania QT3x32120PLUS electronic ballasts.  The new lights provide an average of 65 foot candles per fixture, practically doubling the previous light level of 35 foot candles per HID fixture, yet they use half the energy. The HID fixtures consumed 459 watts per fixture, and the new  SYLVANIA FO32 841XP/ECO  fluorescents will require 224 watts per fixture. There is also more effective light distribution in the facility, and better color quality. In addition, the lights are connected to occupancy sensors which detect when people enter the gym, turning the lights on and off automatically. The gym now has better lighting and it is used only when needed.

The positive environmental impact of the project has exceeded earlier projections. The lighting system changes will substantially reduce annual green house emissions including CO², SO², NOX by 35 tons, resulting in an equivalency of removing 100 cars from the roadways annually.

The Act 57 Energy Savings Project was initiated earlier this spring. Since the project began, Vestar has been awarded a commendation by the Pennsylvania State Senate for its work with the Meadville Medical Center and Allegheny College in Meadville, PA and has recently been awarded their second consecutive Ohio Governor’s Award For Excellence in Energy Efficiency for their work with the Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority in Cincinnati, OH.