Lighting in the Library

"I'm just wondering if it's necessary to have all of the lights on everywhere all of the time? At this time of year especially it doesn't seem like it is, could probably save lots of electricity/money by switching them off on days when the sun is shining through the window" - Alec, 1st yr Veterinary Medicine

Thank you for your feedback. It would not be possible with a building this size to constantly go around turning lights on and off depending on the sunshine. Whilst the perimeter of the building does get daylight a lot of the interiors of the building are pitch black without lighting. We do have special energy efficient lights in this building which have very low energy use. UCD works very hard to save energy and also to keep electricity costs down. The library has reduced the energy bill considerably over the last few years with various initiatives. This includes the new escalators which again are low energy.
On the other side of the equation students use the library building as a charging station for all kinds of devices such as phones and laptops and this cost comes directly out of library budget. We have considered using sensor lights for areas of the library that have low usage such as the book stacks particularly in our evenings and weekends and this is under discussion. We also have to be aware of disabled people in particular those with reduced vision and light can also be a factor for them.  - Monica Glynn, Library Facilities Team.