A well-conceived audit is essential before embarking on a comprehensive energy efficiency upgrade, Auer said. The one conducted at IU indicated four areas for renovation; three of them focused on lighting. No surprise since lighting accounted for 43 percent of the overall electricity bill in the main library. The fourth targeted an upgrade of the constant air volume system.

IU replaced old exit signs, which burn 24 hours a day, with new signs containing energy-efficient, light-emitting diode (LED) lamps. It also replaced old incandescent lamps and fixtures with low wattage, compact fluor escents, and T12 fluorescent lamps with new low-wattage T-8 fluorescents, which use 75 percent less electricity. Magnetic ballasts, devices which provide starting voltage and running current to the lamps, were replaced with energy-efficient electronic ballasts.

Ultimately, more than 10,000 incandescent and old fluorescent lamps, and 2,000 magnetic ballasts were replaced.

According to Auer, with newer, energy-efficient technologies, it's "win-win win" for all parties. "They use less energy and preserve more energy resources for others," he said. "They spend less on energy; and to the extent that their energy consumption depends on fossil fuels, by decreasing their energy demand, they diminish negative impacts on the environment from by-products of fossil fuel combustion--sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide, dust and soot.

"Thanks to the retrofits to the main library, IU is saving tens of thousands and perhaps even hundreds of thousands of dollars each year on lower electricity bills for lighting and air conditioning in that facility."

Other buildings on campus are expected to undergo similar upgrades in the future, with areas of the Indiana Memorial Union scheduled for work soon.