What’s the bright idea?

Volusia County’s plan to save on energy bills is causing a stir among some workers.

New lights that are supposed to use less electricity are a source of complaints for workers not accustomed to the indoor glare that the lights are producing.

“I think some people are getting eyestrain,” Property Appraiser Larry Bartlett told The Beacon, following the installation of new LED lights in his suite of offices and throughout the Thomas C. Kelly County Administration Center in Downtown DeLand.

Indeed, at Bartlett’s invitation, The Beacon visited the building and noticed some of his staff members wearing sunglasses and broad-brimmed hats — indoors.

“Nobody saw this coming,” Bartlett said. “We saw people

 with ladders, and we were never told this was going to happen. … It’s been ongoing for a couple of weeks.”

“We don’t know if they’re finished because they don’t talk to us,” he added.

The decision to install new lighting and make other electricity-saving improvements came from the County Council, whose members April 16 approved a contract with Siemens Industry Inc. for a review of the energy usage and how to reduce it. The agreement called for the county to spend almost $5 million to save nearly $8 million on its electric bills in its major facilities over the next 15 years.

“The existing lighting systems at the Agricultural Center, Beach Safety Headquarters, City Island Courthouse, Emergency Operations Center, Foxman Justice Center, Historic Courthouse, Ocean Center, TCK [Thomas C. Kelly] Administration Building, and the Volusia County Courthouse will be retrofitted with LED lamps,” a memorandum on the agenda item reads.

“The existing original transformers at City Island Courthouse, Foxman Justice Center, Historic Courthouse, Ocean Center, TCK Administration Building, and the Volusia County Courthouse will be removed and replaced with high efficiency transformers,” the memo continues.

Still, the changeover is generating complaints.

“The bright lights have given some of us headaches,” Laura Williams, a public-information officer in the Sheriff’s Office, said. “We’re dealing with it for now.”

Tracis Held, the budget director for the Property Appraiser’s Office, said some county employees viewed a webinar on the energy-saving measures a few days ago, before the work in the TCK County Administration Center in DeLand was completed.

“The wattages are much lower, but the lumens are much brighter,” Held said. 

Asked if dimmer switches may be installed to lessen the intensity of the new lights, Held replied, “We actually requested that, but they said no.” 

“They’re not dimmable,” he added. “That’s what we were told.”

Not least, the energy plan offered by Siemens calls for the air conditioning in the above-named county buildings to be turned off during certain hours on Saturdays and Sundays. Although his offices and other agencies inside the building are not open to the public on weekends, Bartlett said he sometimes comes to his DeLand office on Saturdays. A thermostat on a wall of his own office, he said, simply does not work in changing the temperature inside his workspace.

“They decided to do this without checking with us,” he said, referring to the implementation of the program. “It’s counterintuitive that bright lights save money.”

As for the timing of the lighting change, county Public Information Officer Clayton Jackson says employees in the County Administration Center and other affected buildings were alerted beforehand.

“Before the installations began, we provided advance notice and offered informational sessions to all departments, including the constitutional offices that utilize space in the building, to explain the upcoming changes,” Jackson wrote in an email response to a query from The Beacon.

“The lighting levels selected align with the standards required for office spaces and fixtures in place,” he added. “The new bulbs will remain at their current settings for a month to establish a baseline for electricity usage and energy savings. After these measurements are recorded, the Facilities Division will assess whether any adjustments to the light levels are necessary.”

Jackson also said county workers “who may be sensitive to the new lighting … can request accommodations if needed.

“To date, we have received only four accommodation requests, which is a relatively small number given the number of employees in the building.”

Asked if he had received any complaints about the new work environment inside the County Administration Center, County Chair Jeff Brower told The Beacon, “No, this is the first I’ve heard of it.”

On the flip side, Jackson said some employees “provided positive feedback on the improved lighting,” and he has heard no complaints from visitors to the building.

Stay tuned.