Lighting Upgrade Will Save Providence College 1M kWh Annually

The LED lighting and advanced controls retrofit at the Rhode Island college’s library qualified for a $250,000 subsidy through National Grid’s incentive program.

Providence College in Rhode Island has completed a LED lighting and advanced lighting controls project at the Phillips Memorial Library that is expected to save the school more than 1 million kWh annually and $100,000 in operating costs.

Providence College
(Photo: Providence College)

Upgrading 4,000 existing fixtures to 1,500 retrofitted or replaced fixtures with a fully networked Lutron controls system, the retrofit covered 50,000 square feet of the library facility. Saving over $100,000 annually and supported by a $250,000 utility incentive from National Grid, Providence College will receive a 2-year payback on the project.

Fairbanks Energy, a full-service design/build energy efficiency firm and developer of comprehensive commercial and industrial efficiency projects, provided turnkey project management from initial site evaluation for the efficiency opportunity to designing and building the resulting lighting solutions. The controls installed as part of this project advanced the capabilities of the LED lighting to include occupancy sensors, grouping fixtures into zones, scene controls, scheduling, and additional controls.

“We were able to both significantly improve lighting in the Phillips Memorial Library for hundreds of students, staff and faculty using the space every day and find a solution that will deliver continual operational savings,” said Andrew J. Sullivan, Executive Director, Physical Plant, Providence College. “Fairbanks Energy Services’ LED lighting project additionally supports our institutional commitment to reducing energy consumption.”

“We are excited about the results delivered for Providence College in this retrofit project and we’re committed to improving energy efficiency on college campuses across the country” said Ross Fairbanks, COO, Fairbanks Energy Services. “We are proud to build efficiency solutions for commercial and industrial facilities of all industries.”

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