Campus Exterior Lighting Energy Reduction (2011)

Montana State University's Bozeman campus is lit by approximately 1,100 pole mounted parking, roadway, and walkway lamps. These high pressure sodium lamps operate approximately 4,100 hours annually, and consume approximately 700,000 kwh annually. Empirical evidence suggests that these lamps have an average life of 18,000 hours and ballast failures occur on a frequent basis. At any time it is estimated that between 5% and 10% of this lighting system is experiencing a failure mode (ballast or lamp) leaving pedestrian and vehicular cirulation surfaces unlit, reducing security and increasing liability.

From the Fall of 2010 to the Summer of 2011, MSU had been engaged in a pilot program to find lighting technology that will meet illumination standards set forth by the Illumination Engineers Society (IES) while substantially reducing the energy and maintenance requirement. Specifically, MSU has investigated LED products available for these applications. LED retrofit kits that will fit in the Kim Archetype fixture (campus standard) have been evaluated and the first phase of implementation was installed in the Summer of 2011.

Other advantages of the new retrofits include night time safety and increased aesthetics of the campus at night.

*Notice the camera used to take the photos on this page, emphasizes the non-white light.