Paul Quinn College – Grant Johnson – 2010

Johnson and Bollig were EDF Climate Corps fellows at Paul Quinn College (PQC) in Dallas, Texas. Before the fellows’ arrival, the private, historically black college had received a commercial energy audit and completed HVAC upgrade projects. Johnson and Bollig supported the college’s sustainability commitment by reviewing the audit and assessing additional energy conservation measures.

Over 12 weeks, Johnson and Bollig focused their efforts on six buildings on the campus. The challenge was working in buildings that had vastly different energy needs and uses — a chapel, gymnasium and a science building. An early recommendation was to upgrade exterior lighting to enhance the newly installed state-of-the-art surveillance system. By simply replacing metal halide or high pressure sodium lamps and ballasts with LEDs, energy usage could be reduced by 75% to 85%. Johnson and Bollig also researched campus eligibility for funding from the “Take a Load Off Texas” program, and they found that 38% of costs of interior lighting upgrades could be covered by the state.

The college potentially could save $300,000 in energy costs annually, cut more than 2.5 million kWh per year, and avoid annual carbon emissions by 14,830 tons.