New LED Wallpacks Lead to Savings at Rockdale County Public Schools

February 11, 2019 Lily Valencia

Rockdale County Public Schools Case Study

Budget constraints have many school districts scrambling to identify opportunities to reduce operating costs while creating positive learning environments for students. For Rockdale County Public Schools (RCPS), part of the solution lies with expanding the use of new energy efficient technology such as LED lighting.

RCPS began the transformation of its outdoor lighting system with Barksdale Elementary School in Conyers, Georgia. The exterior of the 70,307 square-foot school structure was previously illuminated by 23 wallpack luminaires with 400-watt metal halide lamps. Officials made the decision to replace the existing wallpack units at Barksdale Elementary School with LED lighting.

RCPS’s maintenance staff installed building-mounted TWH LED wallpack luminaires from Lithonia Lighting® around the school perimeter and replaced existing metal halide luminaires in the same locations one-for-one. The luminaires were mounted at 10 feet and spaced 50 to 60 feet apart to illuminate walkways, a courtyard, the exterior of the gymnasium and the parking lot.

“The LED wallpack luminaires were easy to handle and install and required no rewiring,” said Harry Brantley, Mechanical Manager, Rockdale County Public Schools.

The TWH LED wallpack luminaires include 30 high efficacy LEDs mounted to a metal core circuit board and integral aluminum heat sink to maximize heat dissipation and promote long life. They have a 5,000K color temperature and color rending index (CRI) of 65. The luminaires are controlled by photocell and illuminated dusk-to-dawn.

“People appreciate the improved light distribution, which has created a brighter and safer environment,” said Brantley. “We didn’t consider the safety issues posed by the dark sports created by the previous metal halide wallpack units. The difference is obvious.”

RCPS reaped a 77 percent reduction in energy costs as the TWH LED wallpack luminaires operate at 104 input watts compared to 468 input watts for the metal halide wallpack luminaires. Brantley expects maintenance requirements for the lighting system to decrease substantially since the LED luminaires include a driver rather than a ballast, and deliver an expected service life of 100,000 hours vs. 20,000 hours for the metal halide luminaires.

“We retrofitted the metal halide wallpack luminaires with a primary goal to reduce energy consumption while decreasing maintenance costs,” said Brantley. “The light quality and uniform distribution were benefits we did not expect.”

 

Products Included In This Solution

TWH LED Wallpack

 

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