Lancaster school saves £22k a year with lighting upgrade

Our Lady’s Catholic College, described by the Diocese of Lancaster as an outstanding Catholic school, have upgraded their old lighting to LED to reduce energy consumption, save money and improve their carbon footprint.

The project reduced kilowatt usage by 77 per cent, resulting in saving 63 CO2 tonnes a year. Financially, by installing efficient LED lighting, the college is forecast to save almost £220,000 over the next 10 years which equates to £22,000 annually.

Katy Walker, school business manager at Our Lady’s Catholic College, said: “Having the school fully fitted with LED lighting was a huge job, as we have a large site.

"Since the new LED lighting was fitted, a number of staff have commented that they feel the lighting is much more pleasant than our previous 'harsh' strip lighting and gives a much warmer lighting effect in classrooms. We have saved money too, with the growing costs of electricity this change was essential to keep our bills from rocketing!”

UK Energy Watch, a specialist Energy Efficiency Consultant based in Lancashire, coordinated the project for Our Lady’s Catholic College; submitting the funding application, lighting designs, project plan and installation.

Funding for the LED lighting work was secured through Salix Finance interest-free Government funding, which is available to the public sector to improve energy efficiency, reduce carbon emissions and lower energy bills.

This is offered to public sector organisations in England, Scotland and Wales to tackle climate change and UK Energy Watch submitted Our Lady’s Catholic College’s application.

Ashley Bullock, director at UK Energy Watch, said: “We were thrilled to help the college to save as much money as we did but more importantly, the college is leading the way for the area in improving their sustainability. Their motto is to ‘Aspire not to have more but to be more’ and that’s exactly what they have demonstrated.”

Alex Morgan, programme manager at Salix Finance, added: “Salix is delighted to have supported Our Lady’s Catholic College to deliver LED lighting across their school. The project will see large financial and carbon savings, as well as improving the learning environment for pupils.”

LED lighting is one of the most low-hanging technologies to improve energy efficiency. Quality LED lights last longer, are more durable and use considerably less electricity than an equivalent tungsten halogen source.