| dc.description.abstract | Global environmental issues are very prevalent today. Many countries are looking for more sustainable ways to accomplish what it is they want to do. University campuses are also hopping on the bandwagon, or so to speak, becoming part of the Greening the Campus movement. This movement works to increase environmental awareness and sustainability on university campuses throughout North America. Dalhousie University is one such campus involved in this initiative. Environmental science class 3502 works to educate and engage students in many research projects on ways in which to reduce the environmental footprint of the university. The project being presented here investigates the artificial lighting system in the Killam Library.
The Killam Library on the Dalhousie University Studley campus is overall an environmentally unfriendly building. It is structurally made of concrete with very few windows which makes lighting an obvious problem. Lighting accounts for approximately 30-50% of a building’s energy use (Green Seal Environmental Partners, 1997). Because this proportion of energy usage in a typical Dalhousie University building is so substantial, decreasing lighting energy usage will have significant improvements in both energy costs and environmental impact. In terms of lighting, the library has undergone many minor transformations to lessen the environmental impacts of the building on fossil fuels through decreasing energy usages. Currently all of the lights above the book stacks and in many of the common areas are T-8 32 watt fluorescent bulbs. These bulbs are considered the best on the market for large scale buildings and reduced energy costs and impacts. Many other areas of the library have energy saving compound bulbs installed to further drive down costs. Overall the Killam is a large building with few windows and therefore the inside needs to be constantly lit, which is the fundamental problem of the Killam Library.
In this study, we plan to present information to decision makers on the feasibility of an advanced motion sensor lighting project in the Killam Library book stacks, effectively contributing to an environmentally sustainable university by reducing needless energy waste. Furthermore, the implementation and success of this proposed project will provide incentive for other communities to carry out similar operations, allowing them to share the benefits of lowering expenses and lessening the environmental burden. | en_US |
