For further Information contact:
Mike Pavlovich, Vice-President
Great Lakes Technology
2001 Mirro Drive
Manitowoc, Wisconsin 53021
866-526-4920
mp@gltmfg.com
Robert J. Spence, District Administrator sperob@easttroy.k12.wi.us
Bob Ellis, Manager, Buildings & Grounds ellrob@easttroy.k12.wi.us
East Troy School District
2043 Division Street
East Troy, WI 53120
Phone: 262.642.6710
Besides improving light quality, the change to state-of-the-art T8 fluorescent lighting carried out recently East Troy High School’s old gym was projected to save on energy costs.
It has done both of these things — and also earned for the district Great Lakes Technology’s Friend of the Environment Award, which was presented by GLC to school board president Brian Wexler and Buildings and Grounds Manager Bob Ellis at the March 27 school board meeting.
According to lighting manufacturer Great Lakes Technology of Manitowoc WI, the new lights dropped power usage in the old gym by 85,441 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year– a 58-percent energy and cost saving worth some $5,000 per year.
Power saved does not have to be generated at all, and the pollutants that would have gone into the atmosphere through generating it no longer do. According to governmental formulas, the East Troy power saving means that each year some 83 tons of carbon dioxide, 23 tons of carbon, 800 pounds of sulfur dioxide and four hundred pounds of nitrogen oxides — all pollutant greenhouse gases — will not enter the atmosphere.
The saving is also the air-scrubbing equivalent of a 16-acre forest or removing 14 cars from the road. It is the conservation equivalent of saving 7,053 gallons of gasoline each year.
“We certainly appreciate the award,” Wexler said. “There are people in the district who don’t seem to understand why we approved the lighting change and perhaps this can help us get the whole story across. We’d like to do more of it.”
The project saw the 465-watt metal halide lights in the gym replaced with 4- and 6-tube T8 (one inch diameter) fixtures made by Great Lakes. The power usage reduction is expected to save some $4,200 per year in power costs and an additional $840 per year in reduced maintenance costs.
Ellis was familiar with this sort of story, having overseen a similar, slightly larger lighting project for the Kewaskum School District, his previous employer. The Kewaskum project brought a 55% reduction in energy usage and costs
“We’d had good luck with these lights in Kewaskum, so I knew we’d have good luck here,” Ellis said. “We got quotes and put the fixtures in. With energy rates as they are, being able to show this ability to save made the decision easier. Plus, the lighting on the deck has been dramatically improved. The energy savings are excellent.”
“The only comments I’ve heard about the lights themselves have been positive, from the gym teachers to students to principals to outside groups. No negatives at all.”
“The district is environmentally sensitive,” Ellis concluded. “Quite sensitive to its impact on the environment. We try to set a good example — we’re looking at planting a couple hundred trees and we just put up a greenhouse.”
GLT vice-president Mike Pavlovich commented, “We’re always especially glad to be able to help our schools.”As a onetime high school science teacher myself, I can appreciate both the budget complexities they face and how welcome any cost savings can be.”
“Actually,” Pavlovich continued, “the positives of this project go far beyond the cost savings, better lighting and environmental benefits our award is based on. Taking an 85,000-kWh chunk off the power grid tends to lessen the upward pressure on energy prices and conserve fuel.”
“Energy and energy costs are issues that we all are facing — and from the way things look, today’s students will probably be facing them when they’re ready for the nursing home. We congratulate the East Troy Schools on this many-sided achievement.”
The East Troy School District serves approximately 1700 students on a K-12 basis in three elementary schools, one middle school and one high school. In 1998, East Troy Schools were identified as one of Top Ten performing school districts in the state, based on test score trends on state assessments, as well as the ACT, in relationship to the cost per pupil statewide. We believe that we have one of the finest school systems in Southeastern Wisconsin — many quality programs and services, outstanding teachers, support staff and administrators, all dedicated to providing the best possible learning experience for all our students. Visit our website at http://www.easttroy.k12.wi.us/
Great Lakes Technology (GLT) is a leader and innovator in the design and manufacture of high performance lighting products. GLT’s technology platform and patented modular fluorescent lighting designs allow for future field-installable upgrades, like the ability to set up fixtures as a load shedding instrument through use of our building management system interface technology. GLT’s cutting edge products provide sustainable, guaranteed energy savings with the industry’s fastest return on investment (ROI). GLT has created, developed and built a light source that is up to 50 percent more energy efficient, produces up to 50 percent more and better quality light, weighs 50 percent less and operates 1000 degrees cooler than traditional HID technology. Visit the GLT website at http://www.gltmfg.com/
