The campuswide project to upgrade lighting to efficient LED bulbs and fixtures is now complete.
The University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) recently completed a campuswide lighting project to convert indoor lighting to more efficient bulbs and fixtures through light-emitting diode bulbs, commonly known as LEDs. Through a partnership among multiple units within Administration and Finance, including the Electric Shop, Multi-Trades Shop, Supply Services, Construction and Facilities Strategic Acquisitions, Environmental Health and Safety, and Design and Construction (D&C), the nearly four-year-long project is now complete.
The project sees a multitude of benefits, including saving electricity, reducing energy costs, and minimizing carbon emissions in support of the University’s sustainability goals. Additionally, because LEDs have a longer lifespan than incandescent lighting — 25 times longer — this initiative was projected to also decrease the number of work orders submitted related to lighting outages and replacements. And so far, work orders are confirming this projection.
Using data from 2023 when the project was underway and had not yet reached the 50 percent completion milestone but campus occupancy had reached more substantial levels following the COVID-19 pandemic, Operations & Maintenance (O&M) has seen a 49 percent decrease in “lights out” work orders compared with 2025.
The first phase of the project was completed through O&M’s Electric and Multi-Trades shops, which worked to replace bulbs in the majority of campus buildings. The second phase was managed by D&C and replaced bulbs and fixtures in six of the largest buildings on campus that house research labs. For these buildings, work was coordinated to occur overnight to lessen the disturbances to teaching and research.
"In this phase alone, we installed close to 17,000 fixtures, reaching into offices, labs, and research spaces throughout campus,” says Matt McClelland, a project manager within D&C.
Joe Sabbat, building operations and facilities manager for the School of Dentistry, was a major partner throughout this phase of the project. “I want to thank D&C and O&M for their support to proceed with the huge task of replacing the light fixtures throughout the School of Dentistry,” says Sabbat. “It was a pleasure working with Matt McClelland, as he was always available to address any concerns we had and provided the support we needed throughout the project.”
McClelland summarizes this second phase of the project as “an incredible undertaking that reflected the cooperation of D&C, O&M, and building managers at the Schools of Dentistry and Medicine” who helped to coordinate work in some of the most crowded facilities on campus. “Overall, the entire project really reflected how cooperative the UMB community is, and how much they all care about making these spaces better for people who use them every day," he concludes.
To learn more about energy reduction efforts at UMB, visit the UMB Sustainability website.