LED Lighting: What Can't It Do?

Undoubtedly, city streets of the near future will be lit by LED lighting. Larger cities haven't been as enthusiastic about LEDs (yet), but smaller cities like Pittsburgh, Oakland and Detroit are making up for that lack. Earlier this week, US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz visited Detroit, Michigan to commend the city on its commitment to LED lighting. LED lights are a godsend to cities like Detroit that are looking to rebuild and thinking about long-term strategies to that end. Many such cities have out-of-date or completely inoperable lighting infrastructure and though LEDs are initially more expensive, they provide a long-term solution with lower overhead for decades to come.

Even the federal government appears to be charmed by the advantages of LEDs. The White House announced recently that it would be offering technical assistance to 5 US cities who are interested in improving municipal lighting. Perhaps it should be taken as a sign of good faith that the Obama Administration replaced the old bulbs in the lamps on the Mall with LEDs. Officials pointed out that this new technological shift would save the National Park Service 65 percent on electric bills and maintenance costs.

LEDs' fiscal advantages are making them an increasingly popular choice among local, regional and even international governments. For instance, certain communities in England are hopping on the bandwagon. English schools like the Business Academy Bexley are taking advantage of the savings offered by LED lighting fixtures over traditional styles. The London public school will save nearly 34,000 USD each year that the LED system is in place.

The London school has increased the return on its investment by adding adaptive wireless controls. These smart controllers automatically calculate the desired light level in relation to the amount of natural light.

With savings tied so directly to the amount of natural light entering a building, developing cities such as Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Oakland will be encouraged to consider maximizing natural light when designing new buildings. This symbiotic relationship between technology and design will benefit up-and-coming cities.

Inner city lighting will benefit most directly from LED lighting solutions. The coming months will see the installation of 30,000 scalable GE LED light fixtures in Oakland. These scalable light fixtures will cut down on discrepancies in inventory, installation, and maintenance. These particular lights are scalable from 3000 to more than 20,000 lumens, making them useful for residential areas as well as highways.

Even with the potential for political disagreement when it comes to legislating specific products over others, there has been relatively little bickering over the ban of incandescent lightbulbs in favor of LEDs. To date, progressive city governments have been first to adopt LED technology, but I can assure you that councils of all stripes will be following suit. LEDs are simply too fiscally advantageous to fall victim to partisan politics. We have seen the path to the future. The streets of the future are illuminated by LEDs.

It is hard to imagine an urban city of the future that does not employ LED lighting. We haven't seen large cities like New York move as quickly to embrace the technology; the early adopters have been smaller cities such as Pittsburgh, Oakland and Detroit. Earlier this week, Detroit was commended by Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz for its choice to utilize LED lighting in the coming years. LEDs are attractive to cities like Detroit who are economically distraught. Though the initial investment can be more than with other styles of lighting, the long-term costs make it an even proposition.

Even the federal government appears to be charmed by the advantages of LEDs. The Obama Administration is rolling out a program to help 5 US cities with the initial costs of updating their current infrastructure. To show its commitment to green technologies, the Administration retrofitted the lights on the National Mall with LEDs. Officials pointed out that this new technological shift would save the National Park Service 65 percent on electric bills and maintenance costs.

The economic savings are making LEDs attractive to local, regional, national and even international governments. For instance, certain communities in England are hopping on the bandwagon. One English school, the Business Academy Bexley, sought out funding for LED infrastructure after learning that energy savings would be nearly 70% overall. That means the London public schoool will be shaving twenty-five thousand Euro off their budget per year.

In addition to the savings reaped by the London school from LED lighting, the addition of adaptive wireless controllers has provided even more significant price drops. Adaptive controllers work by automatically adjusting the light levels in a room at a specificed ratio to the amount of natural light.

If these types of controllers were more widely adopted, new building projects in developing cities like Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Oakland could be designed with natural light levels in mind. This symbiotic relationship between technology and design will benefit up-and-coming cities.

LED lighting solutions are particularly well-adapted to urban lighting situations. Oakland planners have made the decision to install thirty thousand scalable light fixtures around the city. This makes things less complicated for the city in terms of inventory, installation and maintenance. The variability in brightness (3,000 to 20,000lm) means that these lights can be applied on busy traffic corridors as well as quiet residential neighborhoods.

Legislation banning old-fashioned light bulbs sounds like the perfect centerpiece for a left/right argument; but both sides have been relatively quiet on the subject. The cities that have adopted LED technology thus far have tended to be progressively-minded cities. The economics of the situation make LEDs attractive no matter which side of the aisle you sit on. This is the avenue to a prosperous future. The future is bright; thanks to LEDs.

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