The Student and Academic Services building at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Energy for its efficient use of lighting.
The facility, which opened in January, has received two awards in the energy department’s Interior Lighting Campaign: Best Use of Lighting Controls in a Single Building and Exemplary Higher Education Sector Site.
The energy department launched the campaign in 2015 and announced its 2016 award recipients last month. It describes the campaign as a “recognition and guidance program designed to help facility owners and managers take advantage of savings opportunities from high-efficiency interior lighting solutions.”
The university says that all lighting in the Student Academic Services Building uses LED technology and can be controlled with dimmers and sensors that adjust illumination levels based on whether a space is occupied or on the amount of daylight being admitted from outside.
The energy department says the use of efficient lighting has reduced energy consumption by 78,000 kilowatt hours a year.
The four-level building has more than 100,000 square feet of space and houses Admissions, Office of the Registrar, Financial Aid, Student Accounts, Lumberjack Mathematics Center, faculty offices and a 154-seat auditorium for student events.
In addition to the efficient lighting, other sustainable elements of the building design and operation include water-efficient fixtures, reclaimed water usage, energy-efficient building construction and green cleaning strategies. The university says that the project is on track to receive LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.
