Ken Buenting, Sharon Ball, Eva Sweeney, Morgan Johnston, and Ryan Wild met to review progress on the LED Exit Sign work.  Ken reported great progress with four buildings complete and one in progress: Grainger, RAL, Animal Sciences Lab, and the Engineering Sciences Building.  They are in Turner Hall now.  Just over $24K has been spent so far through the contractor.  They will move on to the Main Library and the Education Building next.

The current implementation process is as follows:

1. Ryan Wild and Morgan Johnston work with others to identify the priority list of buildings.
2. Eva Sweeney will review records to ascertain whether the fixtures are connected to an emergency generator or will need battery backup.
3. Sharon Ball and team will do the initial count of fixtures.
4. Ken Buenting will direct the hired contractor to replace the existing fixtures and provide data sheets for our records.
5. Eva Sweeney and Ryan Wild will identify additional signage installation needs.
6. Ken will direct the F&S electricians to install the additional signs.

Eva had Ken remove Temple Buell Hall from the list because it is being handled through another project.  Also, through other funding, South studio five and seven were completed.

The LED Campus commitment includes having all the interior wayfinding signs converted to LED by 2025.  This is primarily LED Exit Signs.   We had hoped to use the Revolving Loan Fund to implement another phase of the LED Exit Sign project.  However, that funding is only applicable if there is a reasonable payback through utility savings.  LED Exit Signs have a good payback, but not through Utilities.  The savings come from reduced maintenance, which also provides a reasonable payback.   Given the shortfall in maintenance funding and the Chancellor’s commitment to becoming an LED campus, Mike Andrechak agreed to provide $100,000 per year for two years toward LED Exit Signs.  This funding could be continued in future years, subject to funding approval.

Ryan Wild, in Code Compliance and Fire Safety, met with Morgan Johnston to review the funding parameters for this project, and identify next steps.  Morgan asked Teresa Tousignant and Nishant Makhijani, from the Student Sustainability Committee, about potential student volunteers to help locate the existing incandescent exit signs.  Ryan will work on the building surveys for the smaller buildings, and we will hold KCPA, Main Library, Beckman, Roger Adams Lab, and Chem Life Sciences Lab for potential student assistance.

The Revolving Loan Fund is approved to fund $250K in LED Exit Sign improvements.  Here is the description of the project, as reviewed by the RLF committee:

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This project will replace existing exit signs with efficient LED fixtures in approximately (14) campus buildings.  As a result, energy use will be decreased, life safety systems will operate more reliably, and maintenance needs will decrease dramatically.  This is a continuation of projects funded in FY07 and FY08. We are requesting funding in the amount of $250,000, although the work is very scalable and any funding amount can be successfully applied. 

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CRITERIA:

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08. VISIBILITY - Very visible.  Building users notice when exit signs are burned out and it may make them feel uncomfortable or unsafe.  It also creates a negative impression of the pride we take in our facilities.

09. PAYBACK PERIOD - When replacing incandescent, the payback from energy savings alone is about 6-7 years.  Replacement of fluorescent exit signs yields a payback of 8-10 years.  However, the old signs also require maintenance up to 3 times per year.  If one includes this expense, the overall payback improves to 1-2 years.

10. REDUCTION OF COAL - By reducing overall campus energy use, this will contribute to Abbott Power Plant s ability to reduce the number of generation units in use.  An additional benefit is the reduction in GHG emissions from maintenance vehicles traveling to replace burned out lamps.

11. FUND SIZE IMPACT - F&S is working with the Illinois DCEO and this project would qualify for about $7,000 in grant rebates.

12. PROJECT COORDINATION - F&S has a record of success with these projects.  We have developed a project execution method that keeps overhead to a bare minimum, avoids expensive consultant fees, purchases material at bulk prices, and achieves maximum labor efficiency.  F&S Construction Services will execute the work, and F&S Engineering will document results for the DCEO grant.

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ISSUES:

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01. REPLACEMENT OF FACILITY SYSTEMS - Existing exit signs are typically long past their expected life, and have many maintenance problems.  The new LED exit signs will have an expected useful life of at least 15-20 years.

03. IMPACT ON PLANNED PROJECTS - Very little impact on capital projects.  We coordinate to ensure no overlap between buildings selected for exit sign replacement and planned major renovations.

04. WHAT IF PROJECT IS NOT FUNDED? - If this project is not funded, our campus will continue to expend many maintenance hours keeping these lights operational, and waste electricity on inefficient technology that is over 20 years outdated.

If this project is partially funded, we will install as many LED exit signs as possible with the funds allocated.

06. WHAT OTHER DEPARTMENTS ARE AFFECTED BY THE PROJECT? - The buildings we propose are all across campus and used by virtually every college and department.  These units will benefit from improved safety and fewer maintenance disruptions.

07. RISK FACTORS - No known risk factors.  In fact this work will reduce the risks associated with having nonfunctioning exit signs, and improve life safety for the campus community.  We have executed this type of work in 25 buildings so far without major problems.

This portion of the LED Campus Initiatives exit sign AFMFA funded project is complete 522 fixtures were installed.

As part of the ICECF 2009 Lighting Retrofit, 858 T-12 fixtures in the David Kinley Hall were replaced with the more energy-efficient T-8 fixtures. This switch will incur an Annual kWh Savings of 84,223 hours. The simple payback for this project is -5.36 years. There are 54 fixtures that remain to be done in David Kinley Hall.

As part of the ICECF 2009 Lighting Retrofit, 1,728 T-12 fixtures in Lincoln Hall were replaced with more energy-efficient T-8 fixtures. This switch will incur an Annual kWh Savings of 99,886 hours. The simple payback for this project is -8.03 years.

As part of the ICECF 2009 Lighting Retrofit, 1,990 T-12 fixtures in the Vet Med Large Animal Clinic were replaced with more energy-efficient T-8 fixtures. This switch will incur an Annual kWh Savings of 320,117 hours. The simple payback for this project is 0.23 years.