The University of Georgia Costa Rica 2014-2015 Sustainability Report UGA Costa Rica 2014 - 2015 Sustainability Report | Page 16

90%

90 percent of Costa Rica’s electrical
power supplying the national grid is
generated from renewable sources.

GOAL: Switch all high-use
outdoor bulbs by 2015 to
reduce energy consumption.
With the exception of a few
common areas, outdoor lighting
fixtures are sparingly used.
Campus facilities largely depend
on natural lighting to illuminate
buildings. When artificial
lighting is necessary, the bulbs
used have traditionally been
either incandescent or compact
fluorescent bulbs (CFL). When the
2010 Sustainability Report was
released, 70% of the bulbs on

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campus were incandescent, the
least energy efficient bulb on the
market. As part of the 2015 Vision,
UGA Costa Rica aimed to switch
all high-use bulbs to LED bulbs
to reduce energy consumption,
representing just one part of the
overall effort to reduce energy
consumption on campus. Now
that LED bulbs are less costly, UGA
Costa Rica has accomplished this
goal, purchasing LED bulbs for
every high-use indoor and outdoor
lights on campus. As an older bulb
burns out, is it replaced with a
new LED one.

There are important
environmental and economic
benefits of using LED bulbs over
CFL and incandescent bulbs.
The primary benefits lie in the
increased energy efficiency, which
reduces carbon dioxide emissions
due to less electricity consumed.
Another important benefit is the
increased lifespan, which reduced
the amount of waste. By using LED
Containing no mercury and lasting up to
50,000 hours, LED light bulbs are better for
the environment than other bulb types.

Type of Bulb

Watts Consumed
per Lumen of
Light Generated

Average Life Span
(hours)

Contain Mercury

LED

6–8

50,000

No

CFL

13 – 15

8,000

Yes

Incandescent

60

1,200

No

University of Georgia Costa Rica