ASU Joins Cree University Program

Cree, a market leader in LED lighting, announced that Arizona State University (ASU) joined the Cree LED University program, an international community of universities working to accelerate the adoption of energy-efficient LEDs across their campuses.

ASU has equipped six parking structures with more than 2,000 LED fixtures and has replaced 6-inch incandescent downlights in the Sandra Day O'Connor School of Law rotunda with energy-efficient LED downlights.

"LED lighting is another proof point for our ongoing green efforts," said Bonny Bentzin, director of sustainable business practices at ASU. "Installing LED fixtures on campus provides an energy-efficient means to achieve higher quality of light, as well as offering financial benefits due to the associated energy and maintenance savings."

A university of approximately 80,000 students, faculty and staff, ASU has continued to excel at energy conservation and sustainability programs, including the installation of LED lighting solutions across its campus. For the second year in a row, ASU was named one of the nation's "greenest" universities by The Princeton Review in its Green Rating Honor Roll, an annual rating of environmentally friendly institutions.

Working with APS Energy Services, ASU replaced more than 2,000 150-watt metal-halide fixtures with 78-watt LED low-bay luminaires in six parking structures. By replacing the existing metal-halide fixtures and lamps, ASU anticipates reducing energy consumption by 1.5 million kilowatt hours per year, which can be compared to the annual greenhouse gas emissions from 208 passenger vehicles. The move to LEDs could deliver annual savings of up to $127,000 in energy and maintenance costs, and the new fixtures are projected to last 50,000 hours, or approximately three times longer than a typical metal-halide bulb.

The Cree LR6 recessed downlights in the Sandra Day O'Connor School of Law rotunda consume 85-percent less energy than the incandescent fixtures they replaced, and are designed to last 50,000 hours, compared to approximately 1,000 hours for an incandescent bulb.

"By installing energy-efficient LED lighting, ASU is continuing to pursue sustainability efforts across its campus," said Deb Lovig, LED programs manager at Cree. "Not only are they promoting environmentally conscious projects, but they are also helping to instill these principles in their students and lead other universities by example."

ASU joins LED University participants North Carolina State University; Marquette University; University of California, Santa Barbara; University of Arkansas; Milwaukee Area Technical College; Madison Area Technical College; Joliet Junior College; Notre Dame; University of California, Davis; University of Miami; University of Alaska at Anchorage, Alfred University and Tianjin Polytechnic University in China in evaluating, promoting, and deploying LED lighting as they work toward increasing energy savings, protecting the environment, reducing maintenance costs, and providing better light quality for improved visibility and safety.

The LED University initiative is a growing international community of universities working to evaluate, deploy, and promote LED lighting across their campus infrastructures to save energy, protect the environment, reduce maintenance costs, and provide better light quality for improved visibility and safety.

According to the US Department of Energy, 22 percent of electricity used in the US powers lighting. In a world with soaring energy prices based on the availability and control of fossil fuels, and with growing concern about sustainability of the environment, a revolution in lighting is long overdue.

For more information, visit: www.leduniversity.org