Plans are in the works for Lincoln and Douglas Halls to receive new lighting in specified areas that will amount to $125,000 for each hall.

Conrad Miller, assistant director of the Physical Plant said he wants to replace the old lights with new, more efficient lighting.

“The Physical Plant will do the design work but the installation will be done by outside contractors. Our hope is to start early in the spring on the project but the design of the lights has not been started,” he said.

Ron Beldon, an electronics engineer, and Forrest Struthers, a mechanical engineer, both working for the Physical Plant, are designing the plans and specifications for the project. The lights being replaced are located near the laundry area on the lower level of the halls and general public areas, he said.

Miller said there has been a lighting problem for several years. “What we (Physical Plant) wanted to do was include projects that deal with energy saving. It’s a project that needs to be done,” in respect to the installation of the lights and the overall decision to make electricity usage operations more efficient, he said.

In September of 1989, the NIU electric bill for that month was $497,000, “It gives you the magnitude of what we’re spending on electricity. We’re at least spending $4.5 million a year,” he said.

He said people do not realize how much is spent on electricity at NIU. The Physical Plant is trying to find projects that will help reduce energy costs overall. “I think it would be good to incorporate in our (Physical Plant) budget, energy conservation.”

When the plant invests in the new light fixtures, the money spent on them should come back in no less than two years.