Tyndall continues well-lit path to energy efficiency Published June 25, 2007 By 1st Lt Amanda Ferrell 325th Fighter Wing Public Affairs TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- Tyndall engineers pushed the base's "green revolution" one step further this month. The 325th Civil Engineer and Contracting Squadrons partnered with Honeywell International to bring a new linear fluorescent lighting system to facilities on Tyndall. "The system employs T5 high-output lamps designed to replace existing high intensity discharge (HID) fixtures used in aircraft hangars, maintenance facilities, warehouses, the fitness center and other public buildings on Tyndall," said Gil Walker, 325th Civil Engineer Squadron energy and utilities manager. "Approximately 1,500 HID fixtures have been replaced with the T5 technology." The Department of Energy's Energy Savings Performance Contracting (ESPC) plan was used to bring the T5 lighting system to Tyndall. ESPC is "budget neutral," meaning the money used to pay for the installations comes from the guaranteed annual energy savings produced as a result. The previous lighting fixtures were a mixture of very old mercury vapor lamps and newer metal halide lamps, said Walker. According to Walker, HID lamps lose over 50 percent of their brightness over the term of their operating life, causing the lamps to progressively become dimmer. By contrast, the T5 lamp loses only 6 percent over its operating life, and produces greater and higher quality light than HID lamps. "Considering we were replacing 8-10 bulbs a month, this new system is much more low maintenance than the previous one," said Charles Tiernan, 325th Maintenance Group contractor. "Prior to installation, the light level readings in Tyndall's fuel barn facility were 20-35 foot candles," said Walker. "After installing the T5 system, readings from the same area measured 75-95 foot candles." A 400-watt HID lamp produces a Color Rendering Index (CRI) of 65. A 54-watt T5 lamp produces an index of 85. A CRI of 100 is similar to daylight, and the higher the CRI, the better the overall quality of light. Light quality becomes very important to those who need to see vivid, accurate colors during duty - especially for the sake of performance and safety. "It was extremely dark in aircraft hangars and fuel facilities, especially at night," said Tiernan. "The lack of light presented a safety issue, especially when towing aircraft in and out of hangars, as well as doing maintenance." T5 high-output lamps benefit those working under the lights, as well as those paying the bills. "One of the biggest benefits is the quality of life improvement due to increased light levels where people work," said Walker. "Another is the energy savings." "HID fixtures require a huge amount of energy to operate, while the T5 fixtures use an average of 30 percent less energy than the old HID systems," said Walker. Another benefit is "lamp standardization." The base will now only need to buy and stock one type of lamp. Money, time and effort will be saved by having to replace and maintain only one type of high-efficiency light bulb. "For the dollar and illumination, I'm convinced that this is the way to go in most buildings," said Tiernan.