Universities Earn “LED Degree”

Universities Earn “LED Degree”

Cree, Inc. Sponsors Initiative to Bring LEDs to Universities

At LED University, the candidates are matriculating with PhD’s in LED.

Colleges and universities around the United States and the world are flipping LED-lit tassels as part of LED University, a program created by Cree, Inc. to promote the use of energy-efficient LED technology in institutions of higher learning. The pairing of college campuses and LED technology -- a bright and logical match -- illuminates students and professors two-fold: physically and environmentally.

Cree, a world-leading manufacturer of LED chips, spawned LED University in April 2008 to accelerate, even faster, the stamping of the green lighting technology into our nation’s educational consciousness. Requirements for schools are simple: announce participation in LED University, install LEDs lights, document the energy savings, and publish the results.

Among the inaugural colleges participating in the program are University of Notre Dame, North Carolina State University, Madison Area Technical College, University of California Santa Barbara, University of Arkansas, and Tianjin Polytechnic University in China.

The Incredibly Shrinking Energy Bill

According to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOP), 22% of electricity used in our country powers lighting. In the next 20 years, the DOP estimates that rapid adoption of LED lighting in the U.S. can:

· reduce electricity demands from lighting by 62%.

· eliminate 258 million metric tons of carbon emissions.

· avoid building 133 new power plants.

· anticipate financial savings that could exceed $115 billion.

LED University’s First Honor Roll

The University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana has a sprawling, 1,250-acre campus with 125 buildings. The savings potential from widespread use from LED lighting would be tremendous. To start their transition into lighting longevity and efficiency, Notre Dame installed recessed LED lighting in their Facilities building and Hesburgh Library, LED step lighting on The Irish Green, and outdoor decorative area LED lights on central campus.

Tianjin Polytechnic University installed 1,500 LED streetlights designed by its graduate students on the campus’ main roadway in China. U.C. Santa Barbara installed 23 LED streetlights on a campus street and reports that compared to its traditional streetlights, a 44% reduction in reduction in energy use, as well as better light distribution and color rendition.

More than 400 LED fixtures illuminate Wisconsin’s Madison Area Technical College (MATC) venues, including outdoor walkways, the student center, bus stop shelters, administration offices and display cases. “We estimate that MATC is achieving, on average, a 30% reduction in energy use for lighting across a variety of indoor and outdoor applications,” said Wes Marquardt, MATC engineering services manager. “That’s pretty impressive given that indoor LED lighting installations have replaced T8 fluorescent tubes, which had previously been considered the most energy-efficient option.”

Indoor Lighting: Everyday LED

Many indoor applications, especially in residential and hospitality settings, require a “warm” white light, instead of unnatural cool or blue light historically associated with fluorescents. High brightness, high efficiency LED lights offer the full range warm and neutral white colors, as well as generate less heat than incandescent, which can reduce the load on air conditioning systems -- saving even more energy and money.

Street Lighting: Starry, Starry Nights

Low-energy, long-lived LEDs are an attractive alternative to traditional street lighting due to LEDs’ long lifetimes and highly reliable service, greatly reducing street light maintenance costs that are especially high due to their height and location over public roadways. Light pollution and glare, two hot topics currently in many communities across our nation, are minimized with the focused, directional light beams from LED lamps. Safety-wise, speeding cars and trucks need to be illuminated brightly and distinctly; high CRI LEDs provide steadfast, high-quality white light for motorists.

Parking Lot and Garage Lighting: Round the Clock Savings

Twenty-four hour lighted parking lots and garages benefit greatly from LEDs’ energy savings, especially during peak electric rates. LEDs’ solid state lighting technology is not affected by vehicular vibrations and temperature variations inherent in parking lots and garages. Traditional lights such as fluorescents and incandescents have movable parts that are more prone to breakage and failure. Computer-controlled LEDs are amenable to motion-sensing and photoelectric functionality that can reduce electricity consumption even more.

One World, One Bulb

With our world in spinning into an environmental vortex, LEDs can lessen the fossil-fuel drainage. Manufactures such as Cree are creating new LEDs everyday that are smaller, smarter, brighter, and greener, forging a permanent and universal lighting solution that is as dependable as our sun.

Programs such as LED University are leading the LED Revolution, one pupil at a time.

**Photos courtesy of LED University. For more information on LED University, please visit their website at www.LEDUniversity.org.