Red Means Green, Too

NC State is giving the green light to saving energy on campus this fall by by installing green lights in one of its residence halls. Of course, that's "green" in the eco-friendly context, not the color.

In a test project, the university recently outfitted half of the suites in Bragaw Hall with energy-saving LED light fixtures. LED lights are cleaner and brighter than incandescent or florescent lights, and they operate at a lower overall wattage that helps reduce the amount spent on electricity for lighting by about 62 percent. It's the first test of LED lighting in housing at NC State, and the biggest test nationally for a public university. The lights were installed in a single apartment in Wolf Village last October and are also used in the parking deck on Dan Allen Drive.

Manufacturer Cree, Inc., custom designed a special housing for the light fixtures for NC State, using the project as a test of its own. The company – which was launched in 1987 by a group of NC State researchers who were pioneers in the development of single-crystal silicon carbide – is working to create a fixture that can improve the flat lighting now found in lobbies, conference rooms and other commercial spaces.

Inside the student rooms, the new LED fixtures replace four-tube flourescents.  Each light has its own switch so that the brightness can be controlled. The upfront charges are bit higher:  $120 for an LED fixture versus $100 for a 4-tube flourescent. But the advantages are substantial:

• Lower energy consumption
  
• Cooler, placing less demand on air conditioning systems
  
• More uniform light coverage
• Lifetime of fixture is 13 years, compared to two years for a flourescent fixture, and mere hours for an incandescent bulb.
• All parts of the LED (fixture, light source) are recyclable

Innovations like the new LED fixtures have helped NC State earn recognition as one of the nation's greenest universities. NC State scored a 90 in the new green rating that the Princeton Review developed in partnership with the Washington D.C.-based environmental organization, ecoAmerica. The rating is based on the university's environmentally related practices, policies, and course offerings.

"The Best 368 Colleges," published annually by the Princeton Review, ranks schools in eight categories after culling information from academic ratings, institutional data and student surveys. Rating scores are given on a scale of 60 to 99. In addition to the high score in the green category, NC State posted an 89 in admissions selectivity.

"Our inclusion in this guidebook reaffirms what we already know about NC State, that we offer a top-notch education that prepares our graduates for life in the real world," says Chancellor James Oblinger. "The green rating reflects our success in creating a more environmentally conscious campus community through an increased commitment of our students, faculty and staff to energy conservation and sustainability."

NC State is no stranger to Princeton Review lists; in 2006 it was named both second-best value among the nation's public colleges and universities and one of the nation's 25 most connected campuses.