Musco Finance™ Provides UC Davis with Customized Funding Solution
Just after the bidding process commenced on the University of California Davis’ new $31 million, 11,000-seat Aggie Stadium, the 2005 hurricane season unleashed its devastating succession of Katrina and Rita. “The price of supplies went through the roof. Our project couldn’t have hit at a worse time,” said former UC Davis Senior Associate Athletic Director Bob Bullis. Skyrocketing material costs resulted in cuts of key items, such as end zone seats and
field lighting.
The absence of lights throughout the inaugural football season in 2007 compromised revenue generation, scheduling convenience, and stadium comfort — all factors that intersected chaotically during the first game, especially for fans. Despite moving the kickoff to noon, the hot early autumn temperatures in California’s Sacramento Valley shot up to 103 degrees. A total of eight ambulances were summoned to help treat over 80 cases of heat exhaustion.
Musco Finance™ allowed the University of California Davis to light the year-old Aggie Stadium with Light-Structure Green™, making games more convenient and comfortable.
Funding flexibility
Fortunately, the stadium was equipped with electrical infrastructure for field lighting during the original construction. Unfortunately, resoliciting boosters to purchase fixtures on the heels of a large capital campaign was not in the project’s best interest. Additionally, conventional financing was not an option, nor was there a possibility to tap into the pool of university capital improvement resources.
Project Summary
PROJECT: University of California Davis
Aggie Stadium
Davis, California
25-YEAR PROJECTED LIFE-CYCLE SAVINGS:
$77,000
ADDITIONAL BENEFITS: Musco Finance™ lease-purchase program allows the university to pay for their lights on a customized schedule that matches the cash flow needs of the school’s athletic budget
Constant 25™ product assurance and warranty program provides Constant Light™ as well as group lamp replacements at end of useful life, saving staff time
and expense
Green Generation Lighting® spill and glare control technology minimizes trespass light on areas surrounding the stadium
LIGHTING SYSTEM:
Light-Structure Green™ 4 specialty poles · 180 luminaires
Control-Link® Control
and Monitoring System
LIGHTING PERFORMANCE:
Football Field – 100 constant horizontal footcandles (1076 lux), 1.2:1 uniformity
Bullis found the answer in the Musco Finance™ program, which provided a complete turnkey solution with Musco’s Light-Structure Green™ system and Control-Link® system for automated scheduling and monitoring. According to Bob Drost, manager of business development for Musco Finance, many times customers have the funding in place for either the installation or the products, but not both. “Musco’s Lease-Purchase program offers flexibility through competitive rates and low down-payments to finance the purchase and installation of Musco sports-lighting systems. The program also develops a customized payment schedule up to 10 years for public entities to match the cash flow needs of the customer,” Drost said.
UC Davis’ issue, added Drost, was dedicating the total amount up front. “They needed help in determining how they could do the project and fit it into a budget that could be supported by the project over a period of time,” Drost said.
A planned expense that could be budgeted annually freed Bullis from the constraints of future budget uncertainties. Bullis remarked, “It’s hard to secure funds for an entire purchase at one time, but athletic departments can come up with $60,000 to $70,000 a year to budget and move on with projects. Now, we have enough money in the project to pay it off, but we’ve chosen to stay with the financing at this point so we can use that money elsewhere.”
Operational savings
Musco representative Bob Crookham added that gaining administrative support for the finance option was made easier with the industry-leading energy savings and environmental benefits provided by the Light-Structure Green system. “The lights were deemed to be a critical part of the conclusion of the job. The product features of lighting efficiency and spill and glare reduction got the attention of people, and they were willing to listen,” Crookham said.
The 25-year life-cycle cost savings of the 180 Light-Structure Green luminaires is approximately $77,000. The lighting system includes the Constant 25™ product assurance and warranty program, which will cover the costs of group relamps and lamp maintenance estimated at approximately $35,000 over the 25-year period. Control-Link will contribute to the annual savings by allowing staff to manage and monitor light usage for multiple facilities, including Aggie Stadium, an aquatics center, and a popular campus intramural field.
“ It’s hard to secure funds for an entire purchase at one time, but athletic departments can come up with $60,000 to $70,000 a year to budget and move on with projects.” — Bob Bullis
Former UC Davis Senior
Associate Athletic Director
Musco’s innovative luminaires also direct more of the light onto the playing surface than competitive systems, minimizing campus sensitivities associated with the university’s observatory. “We had to be very careful with trespass light, so we wanted to make sure we had the best product available,” Bullis added.
Keeping promises
Committing to the finance program in the spring of 2008 allowed Bullis and the athletic staff to keep a long-standing promise to host a fast-approaching high school commencement ceremony. “It was an aggressive installation timeline, but the contractor Musco selected, Bleyco Electric, Inc., was phenomenal. They saved us time because they were very familiar with the Musco equipment,” Bullis said.
“ I knew how Musco operated and that they’d give us good pricing. The finance piece was just the icing on the cake. It’s everything you want.”
— Bob Bullis
Former UC Davis Senior
Associate Athletic Director
With the Musco Finance package, the UC Davis Athletic Department was able to realize the benefits of a night game schedule and keep a larger promise of providing a complete football venue through good financial stewardship. “I knew how Musco operated and that they’d give us good pricing. The finance piece was just the icing on the cake. It’s everything you want,” Bullis concluded.
25-Year Life-Cycle Cost College Football Stadium
Typical
Floodlighting
300 Luminaires
486.0 Average kW
180 Luminaires
264.8 Average kW
Savings
Energy1
$60,750
$33,098
$27,653
Group Relamp 2
$31,250
$0
$31,250
Lamp Maintenance 3
$3,750
$0
$3,750
Controls — Energy4
$15,188
$0
$15,188
Projected Totals
$110,938
$33,098
$77,840
1. Customer estimated usage 100 hours per year / 2,500 hours total usage, $.05 per kilowatt hour.
2. $125 per luminaire for relamp labor and materials.
3. Average of 7.5 repairs at $500 each.
4. 25% savings by switching lights on and off 20 minutes closer to actual usage time.
