By Healthcare Facilities Today

When the Georgia Regents Medical Center in Augusta, Ga., began pursuing Energy Star certification in 2004, it became apparent that a lighting retrofit involving almost 12,000 lamps and ballasts on the 1.6-million-square-foot campus was a necessary step.
 
The lighting retrofit started in 2007 and took three years to complete over two phases. With the round-the-clock operations of a regional medical center servicing several counties, scheduling the work and coordinating with medical staff were challenges the project had to overcome, says an article in Maintenance Solutions.

The hospital originally used T12 fluorescent lamps for about 90 percent of its fixtures. An outsourced installer was contracted to swap them out for T8s. The lighting retrofit cost $433,000 and provides savings of $175,000 a year. In addition to the T8s, LED exit signage and occupancy sensors were installed where feasible.  

One sensitivity the outside vendor had to be educated on during the lighting retrofit was understanding which components of the power system absolutely could not be compromised. "For example, when working in the intensive care unit, turning off the wrong switch would have dire consequences," says the article. How to maintain proper infection-control practices was another piece of education the in-house facilities team had to do.

On the horizon, the hospital will be changing out 2,000 lighting fixtures, installing more occupancy sensors and retrofitting its parking facility to all LED lighting.

Read the article.