LED lighting supplier Cree has launched LED University to promote and accelerate the adoption of LEDs by showcasing their use at universities.

North Carolina State University, the first to sign up with the initiative, has installed recessed LED lighting in a dorm and chancellor's office and is putting in LED lighting in parking garages. The university reports LED lighting in the dorm has cut energy use by 66 percent so far.

The other initial universities to join the program are Marquette University, University of California-Santa Barbara, University of Arkansas and Tianjin Polytechnic University in China.

Completed or planned LED projects at the universities include lighting in campus buildings and on streets. University of Arkansas plans to eventually install 1,700 LED lights throughout its buildings, and Tianjin Polytechnic has put up 1,500 LED streetlights designed by graduate students.

The universities will calculate cost and environmental savings from the switch to LEDs, which use less energy than conventional lighting, require less maintenance and are boasted as providing better lighting.

Source: www.greenerbuildings.com