Lighting updates at North Judson-San Pierre Schools are already paying off for the corporation. The change from fluorescent to LED bulbs and fixtures will save considerable money over the long term. It also earned the corporation an energy efficiency rebate from NIPSCO. Major Accounts Manager Kelley Davies presented school corporation officials a check for $20,800. She says such rebates are an incentive for schools, businesses and individuals to invest in energy efficiency upgrades.
N.J.-S.P. Maintenance Supervisor Wilbur Collins says the corporation hopes to realize additional long-term savings and qualify for additional rebates with the upcoming capital improvement projects.
“We have boilers, we have air handlers, we have controls, we have lighting and stuff we’re going to be doing, so for us it’s a good way to kick it off, to take and let the people of the area know we’re being the right stewards of the money, as well as we’re trying to capture back as many incentives as well as the energy savings that we can to take and help.”
Collins says the corporation sought the biggest bang for its buck with the initial round of lighting upgrades at the junior-senior high school.
“Every light outside of the facility was changed, and everything went to LED. Inside of our gymnasiums, both gymnasiums, both mezzanines, our pool area, those have all been changed. What we really did is we took all of the really big fixtures, the thousand waters, things like that, and we went for the biggest hit right at the start.”
Local contractor Busse Electric did the work. They are a certified NIPSCO trade ally.
Next Collins says will be the conversion of the remaining light fixtures, which will be part of the planned capital projects. He says the bid specifications for the upcoming capital projects will include energy efficiency stipulations.
NIPSCO offers incentives for residential, commercial and school/institutional customers. Visit https://www.nipsco.com/save-energy for more information.
