LED City®: To save, protect and improve quality of life
The LED City® program offers participation in a growing community of cities from around the world that are switching to LED lighting for significant energy and maintenance cost savings. Many program participants see LED lighting as a strategic step toward achieving their goals to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
Cities that join LED City benefit from shared information and experience that can help them:
Save energy.
- Reduce maintenance costs.
- Protect the environment.
- Improve light quality for improved visibility and safety.
- Save tax dollars
The City of Raleigh, North Carolina, became the first LED City in early
2007. To help launch the program, Raleigh conducted an LED lighting
pilot using a single floor of a municipal parking deck. Results of
that test were significant: energy savings of 40 percent compared with
the existing high-pressure sodium fixtures and a three-fold boost in feelings of
safety as reported by garage users who were surveyed before and after
the LED lighting was installed.
LED technology has improved rapidly and significantly since that early pilot. Today, LED City participants are reporting energy savings of 50 to 80 percent depending on application and maintenance cost savings reaching into six figures over the fixture lifetimes depending upon application and scope of the installation. Be tter yet, LEDs do not contain toxins such as mercury and lead that are found in most traditional lighting sources and the durability and long life of solid-state technology means that there’s a lot less waste going into the landfill.
LED City participants are helping each other and prospective LED Cities develop evaluation methodologies, creative funding options, feedback plans, and move forward into LED lighting with confidence.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, rapid adoption of LED lighting in the U.S. over the next 20 years can:
- Reduce electricity demands for lighting by a third.
- Eliminate 258 million metric tons of carbon emissions
- Avoid building 40 new power plants.
- Anticipate financial savings exceeding $200 billion.
Join the LED Lighting Revolution. Become an LED City.
Energy Star® Go
California Lighting
Technology Center Go
Lighting Research
Center Go
ASSIST Go
California’s Title 24 Go
Unscrew America Go
LM79, LM80 Testing Go
LEDs Rock Tees Go
Questions to Ask Vendors Go
Cree LED Revolution Go
US Dept. of Energy, SSL Go
"The economic benefits
for
municipalities to invest in LEDs are clear as they save energy, reduce
environmental impact and improve the quality of light. As leaders in
one of America's fastest growing cities, it's our civic responsibility
to invest
in the future and ensure the highest possible quality of life and safety
for our citizens in generations to come. We believe that the cost savings
and benefits of LED lighting are real and achievable today."
-Charles Meeker, Mayor,
City of Raleigh, NC
