Northeast School District Reduces Outages & Captures Energy Savings with Outdoor Lighting Control Technology

February 11, 2019 Lily Valencia

Plymouth Public School District Case Study

Like many schools across the country, the Plymouth Public School District in Plymouth, Mass. chartered an energy program to monitor and reduce its energy consumption across its school system of more than 8,000 students.

During the 2011 – 2012 school year, the District identified an improvement opportunity for energy usage in its school parking lots. There were frequent issues with burned out lamps, constant maintenance servicing and inefficiencies with the lighting itself.

Plymouth Schools Put Lighting Technology to Use

The District contacted RISE Engineering, which recommended LED lighting paired with the ROAM® outdoor lighting monitoring system from Acuity Brands.

The ROAM system – a wireless, outdoor light monitoring and management technology –accurately controls lighting usage while maintaining and diagnosing lighting problems. The lighting control system was installed at eight of the District’s 15 buildings. Building mounted nodes control wall pack luminaires and small pole lights leading to the main entrance through contactors located inside of the building. ROAM nodes were installed on each outdoor fixture in parking areas, as well as on fixtures located on the exteriors of the buildings.

“We scheduled the parking lot lights and building lights to come on at dusk and teachers begin to arrive. The lights turn back off at dawn with the photocell controls.”run until after our custodial staff leaves at night,” said Chris Hastings, Plymouth Public Schools energy conservation coordinator. “We implement a dark campus each night until the morning when teachers begin to arrive. The lights turn back off at dawn with the photocell controls."

Preventative Solution Delivers Successful Results

After one year, the District has experienced significant energy savings, maintenance reduction and positive feedback from the community.

“There is a huge savings in shutting off the lights for five hours a night,” said Hastings. “Since installing ROAM, all community member complaints about lighting problems and outrages stopped."

Diagnostic information provided by ROAM allows the District to identify fixtures that need attention. The system helps enable a preventative process instead of the District's previous reactive method.

Outdoor lighting controls solved all of the problems Plymouth was facing and provided added benefits including rebates from its utility provider. Ultimately, the District is pleased with its LED lighting and controls selection.