Two major deferred maintenance projects are helping to lower campus energy consumption and prevent water leaks in buildings at the onset of rain season.
The projects were overseen by Facilities Planning & Management and involved replacing hundreds of streetlighting fixtures on campus streets with energy-efficient LED bulbs and repairing the roofs of five buildings.
Deferred maintenance projects occur throughout the year and can be funded by the California State University Chancellor's Office or from campus funds. These campus projects address previously unfunded maintenance work.
Street Lighting Improvements
Lighting fixtures along sections of Kellogg Drive, University Drive, Eucalyptus Lane, Olive Lane, Citrus Lane, Red Gum Lane, Camphor Lane, Voorhis Circle, Sycamore Lane, Collins Street and Ag Valley were replaced in a $193,000 project. In all, 270 new lighting fixtures were installed.
The upgraded light fixtures are projected to save $33,000 in annual electricity costs and would pay for themselves in 5.9 years. Fixtures that contained high-pressure sodium or induction fluorescent lighting were replaced with fixtures using LED components.
"I would say this was a hybrid project that not only replaced old and inefficient fixtures to address deferred maintenance, but it also conserved energy and provided higher-quality light output that could be considered both an energy efficiency and quality improvement project," said George Lwin, the manager of Energy, Utilities & MEP (Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing) Services. "The project also reduces greenhouse-gas emissions in the early evening hours when the grid is most stressed. It's a win-win-win project."
Energy consumption is reduced by 50 percent and lighting efficiency from the LED fixtures improved by twofold. The life expectancy of the new fixtures is 50,000 hours, more than tripling the 15,000-hour life expectancy of the old lighting fixtures. The new fixtures are expected to last more than 12 years before needing replacement, which significantly reduces maintenance hours and costs.
The replacement of the light fixtures started in 2019 and was completed in late October 2021.
Roofing Upgrades
The roofs at Building One, the Science Laboratory, College of Engineering, Student Health Services and the Facilities Training Center were repaired under a $3 million project. In addition, the skylights in the University Library were replaced as part of the project that also improved daytime lighting in the library.
The re-roofing and repairs were completed just a week before the first major storm of the season rolled through Southern California and dumped more than an inch of rain in late September. The Facilities Customer Service Center in Facilities did not receive any reports of leaky roofs as result of the storm.
"It can be a challenge to correlate problems with the funding to address the backlog of issues that create trouble for our campus," said Mark Miller, manager of Maintenance, Projects and Fleet Services. "Addressing roof repairs to prevent water leaking through the ceiling into your space, it is clear how important funding deferred maintenance is."