Indianapolis Airport Authority
IND Retrofits Lighting Systems to cut energy use, CO2
emissions, and expenses
INDIANAPOLIS – How many light bulbs does it take to change
your carbon footprint by more than 5,200 metric tons per year for the better?
Over the next several weeks, the Indianapolis Airport Authority (IAA) will
finish the last of more than 2,800 lamp replacements in the IND parking garage
and Indianapolis Maintenance Center (IMC), resulting in a reduction of 5,233
metric tons of CO2 emissions per year. The improvement in CO2 output created by
the replacement lights is equivalent to removing more than 1,000 cars from the
city’s roads annually.
The two projects will also produce combined annual savings
for the IAA of more than $250,000, driven by the lower energy usage and reduced
replacement costs of the longer-lasting new bulbs.
“Improving our efficiency through reduced energy consumption
directly supports our mission of maintaining a viable airport system that
supports and improves the quality of life in our region,” said Mike Medvescek,
chief operating officer for the IAA. “Not only do these sustainable practices
help maintain the cost structure critical to our ability to attract and
maintain competitive air service, they make us better neighbors by reducing our
power use and lowering our region’s air emissions.”
In the course of the garage relighting project, which was contracted
to Fishers, Ind.-based ECO Parking Lights and completed this week, 1,599
208-watt metal halide lamps were replaced with 100-watt induction lamps. The
induction lamps create a clean, white light that sustains the illumination
levels required to meet the IAA’s aesthetic and safety standards while using
about half of the original energy required to do so.
400-watt metal halide lamps are replacing 750-watt metal
halide lamps in the IMC, where ample lighting will remain even as energy
consumption is significantly slashed. Indianapolis-based Universal Tool &
Supply Company is the contractor for the IMC relighting project, which will be
completed within the next month.
