EDF Staff | July 15, 2011
By: Ifeoma Henry-Ajudua, 2011 Climate Corps Public Sector Fellow at Bennett College in Greensboro, NC; MBA/MIS candidate at North Carolina Central University
My EDF partner, Bridget Wilson, and I, the Team Bennett fellows, are off to a good start at Bennett College in Greensboro, NC. Bennett College is a historically black, all-women's college founded in 1873 that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This presents a big challenge for us regarding energy efficiency because upgrades and changes must stay within strict building guidelines. We are working closely with students to create an energy savings plan that everyone can get excited about.
Bennett has been working on lighting upgrades, replacing dead T-12 bulbs and ballasts with energy efficient T-8 systems. Hearing about this initiative early on, our first project was determining if it was more cost and energy efficient to replace T-12 lights only when they stop working, or to replace them right away with T-8 lights. After analyzing the sizes of the buildings, lifespan of the old lighting, cost of the new bulbs and ballasts