The LED conversion project has surpassed the 50 percent milestone in support of utility, energy, and carbon savings.
Photo: The project team gathers to celebrate the 50 percent milestone.
Since December 2021, the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) has been working on a campuswide project to convert indoor lighting to more efficient bulbs and fixtures through light-emitting diode bulbs, or LEDs.
The purpose of the project is to save electricity, reduce energy costs, and minimize carbon emissions. UMB’s electricity is generated from a variety of sources, including burning fossil fuels such as oil and natural gas. This process releases carbon into the atmosphere that contributes to climate change and pollutes the air we breathe. The less electricity we use, the fewer carbon emissions will be released into the atmosphere.
To date, over 54 percent of the campus square footage has been converted to LED bulbs through a partnership among multiple units within Administration and Finance (A&F), including the Electric Shop, Multi-Trades Shop, Supply Services, Construction and Facilities Strategic Acquisitions (CFSA), and Environmental Health and Safety (EHS).
Tom Garvey, a technician within Operations and Maintenance (O&M) who has installed many bulbs throughout the project, is feeling very accomplished.
“It was a lot of work keeping track of everything and coordinating with different departments. It took a lot of energy, but the guys made it easy,” he says.
Once complete, this project is estimated to save 5,300,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity each year, which is equivalent to the greenhouse gas emissions from 817 passenger vehicles being driven for one year. In addition to saving electricity, LED bulbs last up to 25 times longer than traditional incandescent lighting, lowering ongoing maintenance costs. In 2023 alone, O&M completed 2,353 work orders for “lights out” requests across campus. The installation of LED bulbs will allow O&M to deliver better service to campus customers in support of the A&F guiding principles of service excellence and accountability.
“It was great to see the cross-collaboration between many departments across Administration and Finance to accomplish this goal,” says Melissa Morland, executive director of O&M. "It was a team effort that required work from many groups within Operations and Maintenance, but it also could not have been done without the support of CFSA who helped with contracting and EHS who helped with disposal of all the old bulbs.”
Lucas Noppenberger, associate director of O&M, notes, “It was nice to participate in a large project that incorporated the entire campus. The O&M team cultivated positive relationships with building managers, departments, and office occupants in order to reach this milestone. The project was extensive, but all involved found it to be very rewarding work.”
The remaining campus square footage will be converted through a Design and Construction project to finish up many of the larger buildings on campus including the Medical School Teaching Facility, School of Dentistry, Howard Hall, Bressler Research Building, and Health Sciences Research Facility I, II and III. These buildings will receive new light fixtures in office and lab spaces.
To learn more about the project’s progress building-by-building, visit the UMB Sustainability website.