Bright idea results in energy efficient effort at Senior Center

With vastly improved lighting above them, Putnam County Senior Center representatives Sharon Pitcock (second from right), executive director; Bill Eggers (left), president of the Senior Center Board, and Ila Reeves, board member, celebrate the completion of an energy-efficiency project at the building on the north side of the courthouse square with Patricio Denari of Energy Harness Corp.

Banner Graphic/ERIC BERNSEE

You might say Sharon Pitcock saw the light ... or at least the newspaper article illuminating a commercial lighting upgrade.

Pitcock, executive director at the Putnam County Senior Center on the north side of the courthouse square in Greencastle, said she was inspired after reading an April 14 Banner Graphic story about a recent City of Greencastle lighting upgrade. The story noted how the city replaced nearly 350 fluorescent and old-style lightbulbs at City Hall with LED lights both inside and out in an energy-efficiency program promoted by Duke Energy.

In doing so, the city spent $11,456.90 on the lighting project at City Hall and received a rebate of $4,152.50 from Duke Energy, helping offset the expense. Payback on the rest of the investment is expected within two years.

That is what piqued Pitcock’s interest and led her to contact Mayor Bill Dory.

“We followed the example of City Hall after my discussion with Mayor Dory,” Pitcock said as the Senior Center celebrated completion of the installation of LED lighting on all three floors of the building at 9 W. Franklin St.

“It was the perfect time to do it,” Pitcock beamed, noting that replacement costs are relatively low and the rebate offer remains in effect.

The $8,298.90 project -- for which the Senior Center will recoup a $1,134 rebate from Duke Energy -- includes outdoor lighting in the alley behind the building and replacing numerous interior fluorescent bulbs that are no longer being manufactured.

“It’s not so much the fluorescent bulbs as it is the ballasts (that are getting more difficult to obtain),” interjected Patricio Daneri, managing director of the Energy Harness Corp.’s Midwest Region, which did the installation work at City Hall.

“We have a big presence in Putnam County,” Daneri said. “We’re very committed to the area.”

He rattled off not only City Hall and the Senior Center but also Putnam County Hospital, Ascena Retail and Greencastle, Cloverdale and South Putnam schools as taking advantage of the energy-efficient programs designed and implemented by Indianapolis-based Energy Harness.

As with City Hall, there isn’t just a financial savings projected, but a visual benefit as well. The actual quality of the light at City Hall, Mayor Dory has said, “is now closer to daylight without the fluorescent flicker or hum.”

Pitcock would concur concerning her building.

At the Senior Center, better lighting is evident not only in the dining room area but even on the second floor where the used book display in the Store Room/Budget Clothing area was previously too dark for readers or browsers but is now brightly lit.

“People ask, ‘What did you do? Did you paint?’” Pitcock noted of the better illuminated surroundings.

The project, which the Center funded on its own through the proceeds of its Friday lunches and other means, has already had a residual benefit.

“Nobody has dumped anything (in the alley) since we put in the new lights out back,” Pitcock said of a problem area that is now effectively illuminated as a deterrent to any nefarious nocturnal activity.