Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

UCLA Reduces Energy Use

  • 04/01/19
audacy wireless

UCLA has achieved a 35 percent savings in their overall electrical lighting load after retofitting Audacy’s lighting control devices into existing infrastructure.

As one of the world's leading universities, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is committed to environmental responsibility and sustainability. Part of that commitment is ensuring that all energy is used wisely.

Kevin Borg is UCLA’s assistant athletic director for facilities and project management. He is charged with driving maximum performance from each facility across the school’s intercollegiate programs. Borg also is accountable for stewarding the budget needed to build and run each facility in an increasingly demanding economic and regulatory environment.

California’s tough new Title 24 regulations demand that organizations with largescale buildings, campuses, and facilities networks prove they are reducing energy usage across their operations each year. The Energy Information Administration reports that lighting can be up to 40 percent of an organization’s energy bill each year—a statistic that rings true with Borg.

After easily retrofitting Audacy’s wireless devices into existing light fixtures and infrastructure, UCLA used simple occupancy/vacancy, task tuning, and dimming approaches to achieve a 35 percent savings in their overall electrical lighting load. The Audacy system provides the UCLA facilities managers the ability to manage, monitor, and adjust their organization’s lighting system from a laptop, tablet, or smartphone from anywhere in the world.

Over the 12-month test period, Borg and his team consistently delivered at least a 35 percent reduction in total energy usage “just by delivering the right amount of light to the right room at the right time.” Borg explains, “The most efficient light is one that is off. So, we’re now set up to automatically program lights to turn off when a room isn’t being used.”

“It’s a game-changer,” says Borg. “The Audacy system allows us to optimize both our lighting and energy usage from building to building. It’s simple. Intuitive. Effective.”

www.audacywireless.com

This article originally appeared in the College Planning & Management April/May 2019 issue of Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • Virginia Tech Tops Out New College of Engineering Building

    Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., recently celebrated the topping out of Mitchell Hall, which will soon stand as the largest College of Engineering building on campus, according to a news release. The university partnered with Skanska on the 285,500-square-foot facility, which has an expected completion date of winter 2028.

  • California High School Opens New Classroom Building for 7th-, 8th-Graders

    Santa Rosa City Schools in Santa Rosa, Calif., recently announced the completion of a new classroom building for Piner High School. As the campus transitions to a Junior/Senior High School, the facility will play home to the school’s new population of seventh- and eighth-grade students.

  • Dallas-Area District Debuts Three New Facilities

    The Duncanville Independent School District in southwest Dallas, Texas, recently held ribbon-cutting ceremonies for three new facilities that resulted from a $170-million bond program passed in 2023, according to a news release.

  • Designing the Bridge Between Inclusivity and Independence in K–12 Schools

    Fostering independence is fundamental to learning and development for K–12 students. It offers many proven benefits, such as enhanced confidence, problem-solving, decision-making, and social skills. However, this foundational objective loses its impact if it’s not accessible and adaptable to all students. Inclusivity plays a critical role in cultivating independence and healthy autonomy for students, fostering positive student learning outcomes by uniting pedagogy with the physical learning environment.