CHSU Made a Choice to Go Green over the Holidays

California Health Sciences University made the transition to LED lighting over the course of winter break. Why does this matter? LED lighting comes with so many benefits from requiring less energy and at a lower price compared to incandescent and fluorescent light bulbs. This is a huge step for CHSU’s vision of an eco-friendly environment.
LED stands for “Light-Emitting Diode”. It is a semiconductor device which causes P-type and N-type semiconductors to come in contact to create energy. This type of lighting is considered monochromatic because it occurs at a single wavelength. The low power requirement gives this lighting high efficiency and longer life. But those are just the major benefits aside from many others. Unlike its predecessors, LEDs contain no mercury, are made of rubber, omits ultraviolet rays, and generates no heat.
A single LED light bulb can save up to $75 annually and will last roughly 25,000 hours. Right now, Los Angeles saves about $5 million a year on efficient lighting. If the United States as a whole continues to make the switch, it can potentially save the country about $20 billion within a decade.
The switch to LED lighting was brought into action in response to increasing utility rates and the plan to transform CHSU into a green campus. Jimmy Dunn, Assistant Vice President for Operations, reveals more planned improvements for a greener CHSU: “For the permanent campus we plan to install solar, electric car charging stations, using reclaimed water to water the landscape, and installing energy efficient HVAC units.”
With all of these plans in store, CHSU will be very environmentally-friendly with the switch to LED lighting as a great start. With this lighting upgrade, CHSU will see an annual energy usage savings of over 60%. The lighting upgrade will occur over Winter Break and is estimated to take a couple of days to change out over 300 light fixtures! We look forward to welcoming our students back to campus in January with lighter, brighter classrooms!