Arkon Power has helped the University of Florida take a bite out of its power bill.
Arkon Power has been working with colleges and universities for years, and early last year, the company’s ability to meet their unique specifications landed a major ongoing client.
Arkon completed its latest job for the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida on the top level of a parking lot, in June. It began working on the home of the Gators’ parking garages about a year and a half ago, according to Technical Manager Graham Brown.
“We’ve completed a total of 11 different parking garage top decks,” he said. “It’s been a good deal of work, and we’ve been happy to partner with an organization as prestigious as UF.”
For each garage, Arkon has removed the university’s legacy halide fixtures and replaced them with long-lasting commercial LED fixtures. In total, Arkon has replaced 138 lights with 159 LEDs:
- 109 250-watt metal halide shoeboxes with 109 80-watt LED parking lights.
- 21 250-watt metal halide shoeboxes with 42 40-watt LED parking lights.
- 4 150-watt metal halide shoeboxes with four 40-watt LED parking lights.
- 4 250-watt metal halide wall packs with four 70-watt LED classic wall packs.
According to Arkon engineers’ estimates, UF should expect nearly 70% savings on the power bills associated with its parking garage upper decks.
“It’s been a combination of power and maintenance savings that has brought them back for the repeat business,” Brown said. “And on top of that, there is the increased safety for students. We’ve also worked on their hospital garages, where there are even more people coming from and going to their cars late at night.”
For each light fixture, Arkon has been able to use custom bracketing to allow the existing light poles and wiring to stay in place. That’s meant even more up-front savings and a faster payback period, according to Brown.
UF is the latest in a number of clients Arkon has attracted in the university sector. According to Director of Business Development Eleni Lelekis, it’s a market that’s difficult for some LED providers to crack.
“The approval process can be difficult, so for some companies, it can be slow and painful,” she said. “Fortunately, it’s something we’ve really begun to perfect, and we’re excited to work with more universities in the future.”
Email Info@ArkonPower.com to learn more about this or any of Arkon’s other projects.