University of Guelph’s McLaughlin Library reduced
electricity consumption by more than two million kilowatts
a year and save more than $180,000 annually
CASE STUDY
University of Guelph
PROJECT STATS
• Lighting retrofit and
installation of timers and
controls
• Savings: $80,000 annually
• Incentive: $55,000
PROJECT
Reduce electricity consumption at the University of Guelph’s McLaughlin Library by more than
two million kilowatts a year and save more than $180,000 annually.
BACKGROUND
With more than 250,000 square feet over six floors of study space and book collections, the
McLaughlin Library is one of the biggest electricity consumers on campus. There are 18,000
undergraduate and graduate students at the university.
The library has to be open and lit 18 hours a day for students to study, in addition to being lit
for the cleaning staff after it has closed. Since the building had been built, more than 40 years
ago, without control and timing devices, the electricity was never turned off.
“It was on 24 hours a day, all year long,” says Lloyd Cummins, Head of the Energy and
Utilities Section in Physical Resources. Turning off the building’s breakers- the only way to
shut down the lights- could damage the building’s electrical system. “It was not practical or
safe to turn off the lights every day for a few hours,” Mr. Cummins says.
Replacing thousands of inefficient lighting fixtures and lamps and installing automatic timers and
controls in the library was identified as a priority in the 2002 campus-wide conservation plan
developed by MCW Custom Energy Solutions Ltd. Due to financial constraints at the time, the
university decided not to undertake the $10 million conservation plan.
FINANCING
“While saving energy is always important, funding for energy conservation also has to compete
with other university priorities, and in difficult times often does not make the cut,” Mr. Cummins
says. “Although we have spent close to a million dollars a year on energy conservation for the
last couple of years, there was no guarantee of funding in any particular year.”
With the University of Guelph and other Ontario universities facing ongoing funding constraints,
“it is very likely there would have been no money for energy projects,” he adds.
“The incentives help the financing of the
project when this project is competing
with others for the limited financial
resources of the university”
Lloyd Cummins, Head of the Energy and Utilities Section in Physical Resources
Faced with this reality, the energy conservation
committee- which has directed conservation
initiatives at Guelph for nearly three decadesundertook a unique approach in 2007 to
ensure there was consistent funding for energy
conservation by developing a cost-sharing
program with the students.
The University of Guelph worked with Guelph
Hydro in preparing the applications to ensure it
met the OPA’s project criteria. The incentive
for the project is expected to be in the
$55,000 range, with the prescriptive
component at $43,000 and the custom
component at $12,000.
Working with the student association,
the committee, which included student
representation, developed a proposal that
would see each student paying directly for
energy conservation. In a 2007 referendum,
the school’s undergraduate students voted
in favour of contributing $10 per student per
semester for energy conservation on campus.
Graduate students later voted to provide a
similar amount.
“The university applied for the OPA incentive
before the project received final approval from
the university’s board of governors to ensure
financing was available once the project was
approved,” Mr. Cummins says.
The students’ contribution- about $400,000
annually- will be matched by an equal
contribution by the university. The jointly funded
conservation plan will remain in place until 2020.
The University of Guelph has a tradition of
energy conservation and environmental
protection dating back to its earliest days as
an agricultural college. “The support from our
students shows this tradition is still strong
today,” Mr. Cummins says.
The McLaughlin Library light retrofit is the first
of the joint student-university funded projects.
“The students, with their contributions and
involvement, have guaranteed that we will
spend at least $800,000 a year over the next
10 years on energy conservation,”
Mr. Cummins says. “Without their contribution,
the energy conservation program may have
very well have died.”
Part of the project’s financing relied on the
Ontario Power Authority’s Electricity Retrofit
Incentive Program (ERIP), which was a factor
in the university’s decision to undertake the
library retrofit. “Electricity Retrofit Incentive
Program did lean us toward the lighting project
to get a better payback,” Mr. Cummins says.
“The incentives help the financing of the project
when this project is competing with other
projects for the limited financial resources of the
university,” Mr. Cummins says.
The Ontario Association of Physical Plant
Administrators also was involved in developing
the university’s energy conservation plan.
IMPLEMENTATION
In early 2008, with the new student-university
funding program in place, Mr. Cummins and
the energy and utilities group began planning
the library lighting retrofit project. MCW Custom
Energy Solutions Ltd. was brought back to
update the technical requirements that had
been presented in 2002.
In July 2008, removal of the old fixtures and
lighting replacement got underway. Since most
of the library lighting came from inefficient
T12 lamps, thousands of lighting fixtures and
ballasts needed to be replaced.
The majority of lights on all six flours of the
library were T12s with magnetic ballasts. The
stacks were lit with three-foot fluorescent
tubes with double H-type fixtures on the book
stacks. The existing fluorescent tubes had been
replaced in the past and were rated at
34 watts.
With the retrofit project, the T12 tubes were
switched to T8s and T5s, and the wattage
dropped to 28 watts. As well, the two­tube
T12 units were changed to one-tube T5 or
T8 lamps with a new reflector. (The reflectors
are manufactured by BJ Take Inc., Metalumen
Manufacturing Inc. manufactured the fixtures
for the book stacks locally).
RESULTS
Library lighting is brighter, especially in the six
stairwell areas. “Most of the comments are
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University of Guelph participated in ERIP in 2008.
B2012 Jan.v.1
about the bright lighting in the stairwells,” Mr.
Cummins says. He adds that some students
have expressed concerns that the brighter light
must be costing more, but it isn’t.
The university estimates its peak electricity
demand will fall by 246 kW and achieve
a consumption savings of over 2.1 million
kilowatt-hours annually, which will save about
$187,000. The reduced electricity consumption
will also mean a carbon-dioxide reduction of
about 628 tons annually.
It was important that the first project that was
funded by the students and the university be
located where most students spend at least
some of their time. Most energy conservation
projects are essentially invisible to the people
using the facility.
Few people at the university are aware of the
significant savings that were achieved in 2007
when the controls on the school’s heating,
ventilating and air conditioning system were
upgraded. In fact, most of the nearly $2 million
spent on energy conservation in the past two
years goes unnoticed.
“The library is in the centre of the campus, and
most students spend time there either studying
or passing through,” Mr. Cummins says, adding
that lighting is something people notice. “We
wanted something that was very visible, and
the library fit that bill very nicely.”
Working closely with the Guelph Hydro staff
was also a significant factor in moving the
library retrofit project forward. This close
relationship will help develop other energy
conservation projects in the future, Mr.
Cummins says, pointing to discussions with
Guelph Hydro about a potential co-generation
plant on campus and revisions to the
university’s 2002 energy conservation plan.
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