Taking part in Daylight Hour
We’re getting involved with a campaign to use natural light during bright summer days to reduce electricity use.
Today, the Boston Public Library is joining hundreds of buildings around the world for Daylight Hour. The goal of this campaign is to rethink life in office buildings by using natural daylight.
Why June 16? It’s one of the longest and brightest working days in the United States because of the summer solstice. Instead of lights powered by electricity, sunlight can be used in buildings and offices.
This small, but simple action has a pretty big impact. Last year, more than 80 million square feet of buildings were involved in Daylight Hour. This resulted in an estimated energy savings large enough to power more than 7,000 homes for a day.
Boston Public Library’s Central Library will turn off its lights in all work spaces lit up by daylight. The Boston Public Library has asked all branches to take part, if they can.
The effort is another example of the library’s shining example of energy efficiency. The library follows best practices in facilities operations and maintenance. The Central Library has made many updates to improve its energy efficiency. It was even recently featured in an episode of the Department of Energy’s SWAP for its energy-saving work. These changes have been made under the direction of the Superintendent of Library Buildings, Jim Meade.
“We have a fundamental responsibility to the taxpayers who fund the Boston Public Library,” commented Jim of the Library. “My team and I work to ensure we are doing all we can to be as efficient as possible. We want to reduce our carbon footprint with hard-earned taxpayer dollars. Participating in Daylight Hour only helps towards that goal.”
You can still join in Daylight Hour today. Turn off lights in day-lit spaces for at least one hour to take advantage of the year’s brightest natural sunlight.
Buildings in Boston account for more than 50 percent of our climate change pollution. Trying these no-cost strategies, like turning of electric lights, guides our decisions on bigger system changes. It also helps Boston meet its goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050.
Daylight Hour is an annual campaign organized by the Building Energy Exchange. The campaign asks offices to turn off their lights in day-lit spaces for one hour on the Friday before the summer solstice.
