Case Study: Energy Reduction through Lighting
Improvement
The Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center
(Departments of Veterans Affairs and Navy) in North Chicago,
Illinois, reduced its energy consumption by 15 percent in one year.
One key project was replacing fluorescent lighting in many areas of
the health care campus with more efficient light emitting diode, or
LED, bulbs. This energy consumption reduction initiative alone
resulted in an anticipated savings of $500,000 over 10 years.
Lovell FHCC's Green Environmental Management Systems
Committee was inspired to reduce its facility's overall energy
consumption after completing successful sustainability projects in
energy-efficient transportation and waste diversion. It chose to
begin reducing building energy use with lighting improvements that
led to the facility's recognition for overall achievement by the
Federal Green Challenge program. A separate project helped make
more efficient use of the steam generated by the facility's combined
heat and power plant.
The Department of Veterans Affairs has been allotting money for
energy conservation measures for the last several years as part of
its general policy. But even with this funding, Lovell FHCC found the
I cost of purchasing
and installing all of
the new LED bulbs at
onetime a budgetary
challenge. Lovell
FHCC obtained project
I funds from the
department's set-
aside fund to
accomplish the
project and looked for
other ways to reduce
The Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care project COStS.
Center.
Sustainable Materials Management
Federal Green Challenge
Key Topics
• Lighting retrofits.
• Energy efficiency.
Results
• 15 percent electricity use
reduction saved 7.4 million
pounds of C02 emissions.
• Anticipated savings of
$500,000 over 10 years.
• $13,000 annual savings from
reduced maintenance.
Facility at a Glance
• 120-acre campus with
numerous buildings including a
full hospital, residences and
power plant.
• Serves sailors at Naval Station
Great Lakes and veterans from
northern Illinois and southern
Wisconsin.
• Participant since 2011 in the
FGC categories of energy,
transportation and waste.
• Recipient of EPA National FGC
Award: Transportation.
• Recipient of EPA Region 5 FGC
Award: Overall Achievement
and Innovation.
CHANGING HOW WE THINK ABOUT OUR RESOURCES FOR A BETTER TOMORROW
United States
EnvlronmBntsI Protection
Agency
www.epa.gov/smm
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Energy Use Reduced
It was able to use in-house staff to install the new
LEDs instead of hiring a contractor, saving around
$250,000 and increasing the return on investment.
This re-lamping project reduced the facility power
demand by 52,000 watts and 424,000 kilowatt
hours per year. Additional cost savings are expected
to be about $13,000 per year from reduced
maintenance and labor costs.
In addition to the cost savings, Lovell FHCC
employees have had positive comments on the
overall lighting quality of the LED bulbs. In the
future the health care center hopes to integrate
enhanced lighting controls, such as installing more
occupancy sensors and dimmers throughout the
facility, to provide additional energy and cost
savings.
After seeing the lighting quality, energy savings,
cost benefits and reliability of LED lighting, the
facility has started to examine replacing other
traditional lights with LED lighting, beginning with
areas in the hospital complex where there have
been complaints about lighting quality. LEDs are
being considered for an indoor/outdoor area where
lights are always on to illuminate darker indoor
areas. Because of LEDs' longevity, it is hoped
lighting levels will be maintained and that
pedestrians will be better able to see hazards.
In another efficiency project, Lovell FHCC uses a
combined heat and power plant on its campus to
provide all its energy needs. With a cogeneration
system, heat created by the process of electricity
production is reused for space heating, water
heating and other energy needs. Some of this
energy is provided to the Naval Station Great Lakes
facility. Excess energy is sold back to the local utility
company, which provides additional savings.
In 2012, improved steam utilization and heat
recovery from the combined heat and power
system, plus favorable weather and lower natural
gas prices, meant the facility had excess electric
capacity. This allowed Lovell FHCC to sell about
three million kilowatt hours of electricity from the
cogeneration system back to the utility company.
About the Federal Green Challenge
The Federal Green Challenge, part of EPA's Sustainable Materials
Management Program, is designed to challenge federal agencies
throughout the country to lead by example in reducing the federal
government's environmental impact. It helps agencies meet obligations
under Executive Orders 13514 and 13423.
In 2012, nearly 300 federal agencies, representing more than 500,000
employees participated in the Federal Green Challenge. Their combined
efforts resulted in an estimated cost savings of more than $31 million to
U.S. taxpayers.
Region 5, Land and Chemicals Division, Materials Management Branch
EPA-905-F-14-004
February 2014
For More
Information
Lovell FHCC contact:
Joe Bozeman
224-610-4173
joe.bozeman@va.gov
Federal Green Challenge:
http://epa.gov/fgc
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