Overview

During the spring 2016 semester, utilizing support from the Student Sustainability

Fund, the WUSM Student Sustainability Committee distributed nearly 1,000 LED

lightbulbs to medical students. This project aimed at engaging future physicians in

sustainability by encouraging this easy first step retro-fitting action. Students were

asked to submit a basic profile of their residence status and subsequently given a

matching amount of LED lightbulbs. After the distribution event, students received

their free light bulbs and have since been retro fitting their homes, apartments, or

dorms. The overall cost analysis for a complete retro fit of all 1,000 lightbulbs

displayed a savings of over $15,000 for just the first year. Students were actively

excited and engaged during this project. This project as a whole has been a large

success, as well as been a stepping stone for future projects by fostering a passion

for sustainability in the medical student body.

This initiative had two main goals: (i) generate tangible action on energy reduction

and (ii) promote a more educated and environmentally-aware student body that

will lead to lasting change.

Introduction

Medicine is an ever growing field with an ever growing environmental impact.

Finding unique methods to influence medicine and the professionals within it is

vital to reduce the impact of emissions and other environmental challenges.

Medical students are at a point in their lives where they are still adapting to their

future roles in medicine and are open to change. As is the case with many college

age and graduate students, this is an important target audience to influence about

the importance of sustainability.

Residential retro fitting has become a

major priority for many people passionate

about lower carbon emissions and creating

sustainable living environments. To

encourage people to actively retro fit and

impact greenhouse emissions, Light Up

WUSM was created to give students this

very opportunity. By creating a process that

is free and easy for students to engage in,

we hope that sustainability will become a

priority for these future physicians.

The large majority of medical students live off-campus housing and have the

ability to alter their home lifestyle. An important, but easy, connection for students

and sustainability is energy and its related carbon emissions. Given these two vital

facts, we realized that retro fitting residential light bulbs would be an impactful

project. Light Up WUSM sought to engage as many medical students as possible

about energy savings by offering free LED light bulbs to replace less energy

efficient bulbs. Along with the light bulbs, students were educated about the

importance of this process and how much LED lightbulbs can impact cost and

emissions.

With a realistic goal of approximately 50% engagement, we purchased 1,000 LED

light bulbs to distribute amongst the 250 students of the first and second year

medical students, estimating 8-10 light bulbs per person on average. Given a full

installment of all 1,000 light bulbs, the yearly savings in USD ($) will be

$15,467.90 and a reduction in carbon emissions of 126.5 tons of CO2 (*). On an

individual basis, students can expect a reduction $100 in their yearly electric costs

for a set of 8 LED replacements.

*Data for cost savings and carbon emissions reduction are shown below Light Up WUSM Expected Energy and Cost Results

Metrics Equation Unit

Number of LED Replacements 999 LEDs

Hours of Light Use/Day (estimation) 8 hours

Average Watt of old light (estimation) 60 W

Watt of LED lightbulb 9 W

Missours Eletricity Cost (www.EIA.gov) 0.104 $/kWh

kiloWatt-Hour use of 60 W/Day (Hours of Light use/Day)*(Watt)*(1kW/1000W) 0.48 kWh/Day

kiloWatt-Hour use of 9 W/Day (Hours of Light use/Day)*(Watt)*(1kW/1000W) 0.072 kWh/Day

Daily cost of (1) 60 W bulb (kiloWatt-Hour kWh/Day)*(Electricity Rate $/kWh) 0.05 USD$/Day

Daily cost of (1) 9 W bulb (kiloWatt-Hour kWh/Day)*(Electricity Rate $/kWh) 0.01 USD$/Day

30 Day Cost of (1) 60W Bulb (Daily cost $/Day)*(30Days) 1.50 USD $

30 Day Cost of (1) 9W Bulb (Daily cost $/Day)*(30Days) 0.22 USD $

Yearly Cost of (1) 60W Bulb (Daily Cost $/Day)*(365.25 Days) 18.22 USD $

Yearly Cost of (1) 9W Bulb (Daily Cost $/Day)*(365.25 Days) 2.73 USD $

Yearly Savings from (1) 60W→9W (Yearly Cost of (1) 60W) - (Yearly Cost of (1) 9W) 15.48 USD $

Yearly Savings from (8) 60W→9W (Yearly Savings from (1) 60W→9W)*(8) 123.87 USD $

Yearly Savings from (999) 60W→9W (Yearly Savings from (1) 60W→9W)*(999) 15467.90 USD $

(Assuming fully participation)

Missouri Electricity Source

80 % Coal

20 % Nuclear

lbs of CO2 produced from Coal 2.07 lbs/kWh

lbs of CO2 produced from Nuclear 0.22 lbs/kWh

Averaged lbs of CO2 from MO Electricity (lbs of CO2 from Coal)*(.8)+(Lbs of CO2 from Nuclear*(.2) 1.7 lbs/kWh

Total kiloWatt-Hour Savings (kWh 60W - kWh 9W)*(# LEDs)*(Hours of light Use/Day)*(365.25 Days) 148872.98 kWh

Total CO2 Emissions Yearly Savings (Total kWh Savings kWh)*(Avg lbs of CO2 in MO lb/kWh) 253084.06 lbs

Yearly CO2 Emissions Savings 253,084 lbs CO2

126.5 tons CO2

Various Sources Hyperlinked within Spreadsheet Calculations.

Dollar savings match online source https://www.ledwaves.com/pages/led-calc

Calculations for CO2 Savings also match online source

Current Progress

The application for engaging in Light Up WUSM was sent to approximately 250

students of the first and second year medical class. 105 students signed up with the

initiative. With each student, we received a basic profile of their residential status

including the type of residence and how many light bulbs they are planning to retro

fit. With the 105 students signed up, all approximately 800 light bulbs were

accounted for and claimed.

On May 2nd, we held the official distribution

event within the FLTC building of the medical

school. Prior to the event, the application was

sent out to students for several weeks. Those that

signed up were contacted to come and receive

their light bulbs. We also extended the offer for

people who wanted to sign up the day of, since

we have ~200 unclaimed light bulbs. During the

event, over 100 students showed up to receive

light bulbs, to sign up, and to learn what made

LED light bulbs better than incandescent.

Each participant received a housing-

dependent amount of LED lightbulbs.

This ranged from some students in dorms

needing only 3 light bulbs to students

living in a home that received 30 light

bulbs. At the end of the event, all 1,000

light bulbs had been claimed as many

students signed up during the event.

Currently, 900 have been distributed and

we are working on personally distributing

the remaining 100.

By tracking the residence status, even to the point of unit number in apartments,

we will be able to gain a topographical sense of the impact of this project. By

mapping out the apartments and houses that these bulbs go to, students can see the

spatial result of this project. As shown below, the large majority of the bulbs went

to apartments. However, nearly a fourth went to houses, which had large quantities

as shown on the histogram above with numbers greater than 20.

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30

Nu

mb

er o

f St

ud

ents

Number of LED Light Bulbs

Light Up WUSM Light Bulb Distribution Quantities

A very important aspect of this project is the actual installation of the light bulbs. If

the students simply took the bulbs and had them sit in the closet, there would be no

impact on energy efficiency. Thus, 3 weeks after the distribution event, a post

survey was sent out to all who received light bulbs asking whether or not they had

installed the new LED light bulbs. The results below show that the large majority

have begun to or completed installation.

Expense Report

The Student Sustainability Fund (SSF) awarded us $2,830.50 for the purchase of

1000 light bulbs. We originally quoted the price of 1,000 light bulbs to cost $2.83

per light bulb, leading to the awarded amount. However, thanks to further

discussion with the distributor, Batteries Plus, Inc., we were able to get an even

further reduced price on the LED light bulbs of $2.33 per light bulb. This lead to a

total of $2,334.66 that was purchased with through the Washington University

Office of Sustainability. This will serve to explain to SSF why not the full amount

of the award was used.

Project Name: Light Up WUSM

Project Description: Distributing LED light bulbs to WASH U medical students for residential retro-fitting

Contact Person: David Ebertz (623-308-5651) (debertz@wustl.edu)

Date: 3/6/2016

Item Code* Item Category* Item Description Number of Units Cost per Unit Total Cost

3487 Supplies A19 9W LED Light Bulbs 334 $6.99 $2,334.66

$0.00

Total 2334.66

Media

Future Plans

The most important aspect of this project’s success is the full installation of all the

distributed light bulbs. Given that there is still a small portion of the class that has

not installed them, or has not installed all of them, we must tackle this in the

upcoming months. Personal communication with the few people will be used to

pressure students into installing the light bulbs. We will make sure to communicate

the importance of this and how it will began to save them energy usage and cost

immediately. Also, we will reach out to anyone that may have had issues with

installation. So far, we have only had one complaint as shown below with student

who had trouble with their ceiling fan light bulbs. (However, they still managed

and got them installed!)

Overall, Light Up WUSM can serve as a stepping stone for these students to see

the impact and importance of energy reduction. Further programs or initiatives will

build off of this stepping stone and further connect medical students with a passion

for sustainability. By influencing students during school, Light Up WUSM

inspired future physician leaders to care about sustainability.

This initiative will build upon itself in future semesters by further retrofitting

apartments and residences near WUSM. With these new LED light bulbs installed,

many students will leave them installed in the residences after their 4 years here. In

the following years, if we plan to do a follow up Light Up WUSM, the amount of

LEDs needed will start to decline as the residences will start to accumulate these

modifications. This will be possible by tracking not only the residences, but the

individual unit numbers from the students. However, this is not the full potential.

As this passion in the student body continues to grow, a future-long term project

(Green Up WUSM) can continue to develop as we move towards other retrofit

modifications, such as low-flow shower heads, clothes lines, and even solar panels.

This movement will start to make an impact on the students here at WUSM and

support better residential retro-fitting. This can then even extend to the on campus

housing and study areas.

As stated, this initiative has two separate purposes: (i) generate tangible action on

energy reduction and (ii) promote a more educated and environmentally-aware

student body that will lead to lasting change. With the overwhelming success of

Light Up WUSM and the overall positive feedback from many students, we are

confident that this is merely a first step towards making Washington University

School of Medicine a model of sustainably minded medical students.