An aircraft maintenance hangar at Hill Air Force Base, just south of Ogden, Utah, recently became the first large-scale demonstration installation of a new lamp technology, the sulfur lamp. The relamping and refixturing project, part of the first base-wide energy-savings system upgrade at a U.S. military installation to meet Department of Energy (DOE) criteria, is cited as an example of a profitable industry and government partnership.
CES/Way, an energy services company (ESCO) based in Houston, installed and tested the energy-saving equipment at the airbase. It includes a total lighting-retrofit program-involving 100 buildings-and mechanical HVAC work. Energy savings will repay the total cost of the $4.2 million project and pay CES/Way for its services over the life of a 17-year energy savings performance contract. The base's total utility bill exceeds $14 million a year.
Cooper Lighting, Elk Grove Village, Ill., made the 168 high-bay fixtures housing the 1000W Light Drive sulfur lamp, made by Fusion Lighting, Rockville, Md. The 3M Co., Minneapolis, Minn., provided special optical films that line the 10-in.-dia. polycarbonate plastic pipe used with the 120 Light Drive fixtures also made by Fusion Lighting. The 44 "light guide" plastic pipes (each 104-ft long and each with two Light Drive lamps) are installed as horizontal rows in the low-bay maintenance and storage areas.
Mark Ginsberg, deputy assistant secretary of the DOE, praised the efforts by the local utility, Utah Power & Light, and the fact that additional ESCO projects can be done at the airbase under the standing contract.
Under contract for the DOE, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Wash., did an assessment of the efficiency and performance of the sulfur lamp system, including a pre- and post-installation survey of aircraft maintenance personnel who work on the F-16 tactical aircraft and C-130 transport planes.