Lighting the Lawn, More Efficiently
Given that “sustainability” has been one of the University’s watchwords, what about the annual holiday Lighting of the Lawn? How sustainable is it to wrap all those pretty columns with all those sparkly lights?
As it turns out, we can relax a little. Sure, Lighting the Lawn sucks up some electricity. But since last year, it’s much less electricity than you might think. That’s because Dominion donated strings of LED lights, which use a fraction of the power needed to illuminate incandescents.
(Even before the switch to LEDs, one Facilities Management official estimated the old bulbs used the power equivalent of “three or four coffee pots.”)
Need verification? Here’s a piece in Sunday’s New York Times that looked into every aspect of the LED vs. compact fluorescent vs. incandescent comparison — including the total cost of manufacturing and transport — and declared that LEDs and compacts far outpaced incandescents in energy consumption. Plus, LEDs have the added benefit of not containing mercury.
So enjoy this year’s festivities, which are set to begin Dec. 8 at 7:30 p.m.
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