The apartment building’s corridors had inconsistent color and output, as well as heat spots on the walls above the fixtures from the ballasts inside the 34-watt compact fluorescent sconces. After the upgrade to 11.5-watt LED Engines, the corridors have uniform color and improved color accuracy. In addition, energy consumption has been cut by more than 50 percent on the hallway lighting.
PHOTOS: LONGMONT HOUSING AUTHORITY The Numbers at a Glance >>
The Longmont Housing Authority tracked its utility costs from January 2007 (before the retrofit) com- pared to January 2008 (after the retrofit).
ELECTRIC
January 2007 use in kilowatts: 34.84 January 2008 use in kilowatts: 23.88 Total monetary savings: $114.37
NATURAL GAS
January 2007 use in therms: 5074 January 2008 use in therms: 3556 Total monetary savings: $1,366.95
WATER AND WASTEWATER
January 2007 use in gallons: 112,000 January 2008 use in gallons: 103,000 Total monetary savings: : $41.69
TOTAL SAVINGS: $1,523.01
there,” Counts says. “Right now, we can’t really tell how much savings there are. However, my property managers informed me utility costs recently went up and, with the use of the LEDs, our monthly costs have remained fairly stagnant. It’s definitely worth the investment.”
Project Timelines Because of the full occupation during retrofit, scheduling each facet of the project so as not to inconvenience the residents was a com- plex endeavor. “We took the boilers offline during the summer and although there were some interruptions to domestic hot water for periods of one day, at no time were the residents totally out of hot water for a 24-hour period,” Counts recalls. The roof was replaced and solar panels installed during the summer, as well. The construction team removed the siding in January to start
with the façade replacement. The 3-story building exterior previously was clad primarily in vinyl siding. “We took it off, wrapped the entire building with a water barrier then used pre-painted fiber-cement siding,” Counts says. “We’re not anticipating having to paint it for an- other decade.” Parts of the building not covered in siding are brick. The team also added a canopy over the entrance to protect the ten- ants coming and going from the adverse winter weather Colorado often experiences. “The visual transformation of the building was pleasing,” Counts