A project by the Sustainable Saunders Initiative, aimed at saving energy by reducing building lighting, will save Saunders Hall at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa about $15,000 a year, the university announced yesterday.

The savings were accomplished at no cost by removing more than 2,000 lightbulbs from Saunders Hall light fixtures, as a way to cut energy use and improve workplace conditions.

Sustainable Saunders is an initiative in the university's Social Science Public Policy Center, comprised of students and faculty, that conducts research on sustainable practices and promotes successful projects for adoption elsewhere.