New Sustainable Lighting Projects Lead to Savings

Three RSD17 schools have completed an extensive LED lighting project, an accomplishment toward goal 4 of the district’s strategic plan.

“Our goal is to enhance district infrastructure in a way that ensures sustainability, both fiscally and operationally,” said John Mercier, Director of Operations.

After a lighting audit and approval by Eversource, the intermediate/middle school and elementary schools were outfitted with just over 4,500 new LED lights across all schools.

“We are seeing better electrical savings than estimated,” Mercier said.

At HKIMS alone, a savings of 171,000 kWh has been realized in just four months, putting the school on track to outpace the 374,198 kWh savings estimated for the entire year.

One-third of the project costs were covered by Eversource incentives. The remaining costs were financed at 0% for four years and will be bundled into the district electric bill.