PSEG Awards Rebate for Stony Brook Energy Efficiency Measures

Representatives from PSEG Long Island visited the Stony Brook campus on September 22 to award a rebate check for more than $58,000 in recognition of campus-wide sustainability initiatives.

Tom Lanzilotta, assistant director of Energy and Efficiency in the Office of Energy Management, explained the projects that resulted in the rebate. “The check is for fluorescent to LED light fixture conversion projects in Melville Library, Frey, Harriman, Humanities, Staller, Sullivan and the Scan Center. In the library we replaced 1,870 fluorescent lamps with 540 2×2 fixtures and at Frey, Harriman, Humanities, Staller, Sullivan, and the Scan Center, we replaced 319 fluorescent  light fixtures with 240 LED fixtures. The total energy savings so far is 365,000 kWh per year or $50,000 per year.”

One of the benefits of the upgraded lighting is sensors so that lights will remain off when no one is present. A goal for the Humanities building, a current project, is to eliminate half of the lighting fixtures, resulting in a significant conservation of energy.

The office of Energy Management team hosts monthly meetings with PSEG Long Island to discuss current projects and to try to align projects with available rebates. PSEG Long Island has awarded close to $3 million in rebates to the campus for energy efficiency improvements to existing buildings and initiatives in new construction.

“We heard students’ feedback, and we want to make the campus more efficient and more sustainable, and we’re working daily to do that,” said Lanzilotta.

Christian Guzman, assistant energy manager with the office of Energy Management, added, “One of the ways we can make the campus more efficient is by applying for these rebates, receiving the rebates and putting that money back into reinvesting in our sustainability initiatives to help this continue to grow and propel forward.” The rebates are invested in future campus energy-efficiency measures.

The rebate award coincides with Stony Brook’s celebration of Climate Week NYC. “Climate Week may be a single week, yet Stony Brook’s deeply embedded commitment to climate justice is every day, year-round,” said Stony Brook University President Maurie McInnis.