Since returning from winter break, many students have noticed changes in Bostwick Marketplace. Over the break, a new, brighter, and more eco-friendly lighting system was installed in Bostwick, located in the ELC.

Campus Energy Manager Steve Durfee and Manager of Electrical Systems & Projects David Eckley were both leaders in implementing the new system. They explained that the indoor environmental quality (IEQ) of the previous lighting system in Bostwick was “poor” and “inefficient.”

“The fixture light distribution was awful as it produced a blob of light on the working plane or surface. The new system … [is] of much better design for the application,” Durfee and Eckley said.

In confirming the environmentally-conscious nature of the new system, Durfee and Eckley compared the 10-year life expectancy of the new, 12-watt light fixtures to the six to 10 month life expectancy of the old, incandescent, 75-watt lamps.

“Bucknell facilities staff are pleased that they won’t need to purchase and install 2,000+ bulbs over the next 10 years, plus we use 84 percent less electricity as a result. It’s a much more sustainable system in terms of resource efficiency with energy and materials,” Durfee and Eckley said.

Administrative Employee in Dining Services John Cummins said that the plans to install the new lighting system had been made over the summer, partly in response to overall dissatisfaction with the inconsistencies in the brightness of the old lighting system.

“Generally, it was dark and dank. [But also] there were these spotlights over certain chairs, and [students sitting in them] felt like they were under some sort of inquisition,” Cummins said.

Cummins is pleased with the much brighter lights, both because it better accommodates students participating in Activities and Campus Events’s (ACE) doings held in the cafeteria, like Bingo Blingo and Cake Wars, and because it creates a better environment for reading and studying.

In the 10 years Cummins has worked here, students have constantly commented on how happy they were with the brightness of the serving line, but felt that in comparison the dining room looked “dungeon-like.”

“It’s amazing how big of a difference there is between the eco-friendly version and the old version. It’s so much brighter and so much better,” Evi Robinson ’18 said.

Students have generally responded positively to the new light fixtures, welcoming the ecological change with open arms.

“It’s nice to know that we’re positively influencing our learning environment, our eating environment, and our eco-friendly environment,” Paige Collins ’18 said.