Through the operation and management of the University buildings, UCD Estate Services is working hard to reduce unnecessary energy consumption, improve energy efficiency and do our part to tackle climate change.
With approximately 400,000sqm of building space, lighting is a significant user of electricity annually in UCD. Depending on the building, between 10-40% of all electricity consumption can be attributed to lighting. The upgrading of older lighting to LED results in a reduction in electricity consumption associated with lighting of up to 50% compared to older technologies.
Therefore upgrading existing lighting to high-efficiency LED has been a key feature of the UCD energy management programme over the last number of years. With the support of the SEAI (Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland) older lighting was upgraded across a number of buildings on campus this year, including the Quinn School of Business, Newstead, Blackrock Campus and Agriculture and Food Science buildings. This follows on from a similar project in 2017 in the Health Science Centre, James Joyce Library, Engineering and Materials Science Centre and the Conway Institute.
This now means that over 50% of all lighting on campus has been upgraded to LED, delivering reduced electricity consumption and lowering the University carbon footprint. It is our aim to completely update all lighting to LED over the coming years and to continue to explore new ways to improve the University’s energy efficiency.
The graph below shows the reduction in electricity consumption in the Newstead buildings in Belfield for the first three weeks of October 2018 compared to the same period in 2017, showing an 8% drop in electricity consumption, demonstrating the benefits of LED lighting upgrades.
