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Building by building, a smart energy-saving project is brightening Christopher Newport’s campus.
Electricians are replacing incandescent, halogen, and fluorescent bulbs with high-efficiency LED lights both indoors and outdoors. The conversion is complete at the Potomac Residence Hall. CNU Energy Manager Phillip Melillo projected annual energy consumption in Potomac will be reduced by 546,000 kilowatt-hours with a cost savings of nearly $50,000.
The conversion is underway at York River Residence Hall, where LED fixtures and occupancy sensors are being installed in hallways and rooms with a project completion date of March 2026. The bulbs are already shining in many areas of campus including Trible Library, McMurran Hall, and in many residence hall hallways.
“This is the first major project funded by the Going Greener Revolving Fund in which the energy savings from the new bulbs will help to fund future energy-saving projects,” said Leadership Studies Professor Dr. Benjamin Redekop.
The Going Greener Revolving Fund was seeded by the Redekop Family Endowment with a $3 million donation. The Fund is a repository of money saved through eco-friendly facility improvements that is then a source of grants for additional projects. It is a cornerstone of the University’s Going Greener Campaign, launched by President William G. Kelly in 2024.
The effort was boosted by CNU’s Strategic Compass, a plan for the next five years that pledges “CNU will foster an environmentally sustainable campus and use its natural resources in an environmentally conscious way.”
The Going Greener Campaign is producing results on many fronts. At home football games in 2024 and 2025, waste was reduced and recycling and composting increased. The roof on the Ferguson Center for the Arts is being replaced with a more energy efficient structure and a high efficiency boiler has been installed in Trible Library.
"When we think about lowering our carbon footprint, we first tend to think about new installations like solar panels, which are great," Redekop said. "But in the case of this LED project, we are achieving the same goal by simply upgrading our existing technologies to more efficient models, resulting in large energy savings and significant pollution reduction."