Cree LED Revolution Blog

Cree and LED lighting are starting a revolution

Posts Tagged ‘downtown’

Dispatches from the front lines of an LED Lighting Rally

Thursday, February 4th, 2010

I marched (OK, technically, I walked) in a circle on a street corner in downtown Raleigh yesterday with a group of passionate LED supporters and chanted:

“Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey, LEDs are here to stay!

One, Two, Three, Four, Kick Fluorescents out the door!”

That’s not all. We had signs. A lot of signs. Hand-painted signs. Signs that declared our love for energy-efficient LED lights.

Rally

You’re probably wondering if we lost our minds. But I can assure you, we had a plan. You see, at approximately 5:45 p.m., just as our toes started to go numb in the chilly temperatures, a group of 100+ people rounded the corner.

But this wasn’t just a random mob, they were folks who knew a lot about LEDs. The group was on an LED Lighting Walking Tour of downtown Raleigh as part of the Department of Energy Solid State Lighting Research and Design Conference (or DOE SSL R&D for short).

Seeing their shocked faces was all it took for us to spring to action. We hoisted our signs in the air and started our chant.

Within seconds, digital cameras, cell phone and video cameras were fixed on us as we continued to walk in our circle. I tried not to make eye contact with anyone because it’s hard to stay composed when you’re hollering a chant. But I couldn’t miss the smiles, the curious looks, the camera flashes—and even a smattering of applause.

So what the heck were we doing? We were showing industry professionals that we’re serious about the LED Lighting Revolution. We truly believe LED lighting is better than incandescent, fluorescent and other lighting technologies. We truly believe the energy savings that can be achieved by switching to LED lights is worthwhile.

And we wanted those conference goers — the very people who have the potential to help change the way we light the world – to know that we’re out there paving the way for LED lighting by raising awareness.

LEDs Rock! If you were at the conference and saw the rally, please let me know in the comments section. I would love to see your photos and video.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in For Fun, LED Cities, Revolution, Trade Shows | 10 Comments »

Raleigh, NC celebrates three year commitment to LED lighting

Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010

Think back to February 2007. What were you doing back then to save energy? It’s hard to believe that just three years ago, the push for energy-efficient lighting focused on CFLs. It was in early 2007 that Yahoo launched a website urging people to switch to CFL bulbs.

But while much of the world was focusing its attention on CFLs, the city of Raleigh was setting its sights on even more energy-efficient technology: LED lighting.

Yesterday we celebrated Raleigh’s three year LED City® anniversary. In February 2007, Raleigh became the first city in the world to join the Cree LED City program, an initiative to deploy and promote LED lighting in cities throughout the world.

Raleigh joined the program by installing LED lights at just one spot in the city to see what results the city would achieve. Three years later, city officials are so impressed with LED lighting that Raleigh now has more than 40 installations, ranging from accent and indoor lighting to street and parking lot lighting.

So how much is the city saving by using LED lights? City officials estimate the city is saving $215,000 a year on energy and maintenance costs.

In fact, city spokeswoman Jayne Kirkpatrick is so jazzed about the savings that she tried to quantify it for taxpayers. She told us that the city’s annual savings from LED lighting is the equivalent of four police officer or firefighter salaries; five years of sidewalk repairs; five years of sports field renovations or the cost of nearly two brand-new garbage trucks.

Want to see some of the places that boast LED lighting in Raleigh? Take a look at this Google map I put together. The map includes video of the following locations: Underground parking deck at Raleigh Convention Center, street lights outside Progress Energy Headquarters, pedestrian lighting at Exchange Plaza, street lights at Raleigh Convention Center, architectural lighting on City Plaza Art Towers and solar street lights at Campbell University Law School parking lot.


View Raleigh, NC: An LED City Tour in a larger map

If you’re interested in getting your city to try energy-efficient LED lights, here are the steps your city needs to take.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »