Many classrooms at College of New Caledonia are currently undergoing a lighting retrofit featuring the latest technology, in an effort to save energy and money at the Prince George campus.
A total of 18 classrooms will see improved lighting and state-of-the-art energy efficient fixtures, which will save an estimated 97,000 kilowatt hours or about $6,600 per year.
"Multi-level manual switching will allow instructors to choose from up to three lighting levels in many of the upgraded classrooms for increased comfort for students while also saving energy," said Randall Heidt, CNC director of communications and development.
Several classrooms are also being fitted with automatic light-level sensing, which will automatically turn select fixtures off when daylight levels are sufficiently high. Occupancy sensors in all classrooms will turn off all lights when the classrooms are unoccupied.
"It's very exciting to see these changes finally taking place as part of the college's energy management strategy, which we have been working on for the last two years," Bowman said. "The project is jointly funded by BC Hydro, Natural Resources Canada and CNC."
The retrofit will cost about $50,000 and replace existing energy-inefficient lighting that is being phased out by the federal government in 2012.
