Cree LED Revolution Blog

Cree and LED lighting are starting a revolution

Posts Tagged ‘north carolina’

City of Asheville: Successfully Driving the Adoption of Street Lights in North Carolina

Monday, January 23rd, 2012

Being a leader can be exhilarating. Take Cree, for example. We love leading the LED Lighting Revolution. You could even say we find it electrifying. So when we hear US cities, like Asheville, are implementing LED lighting, it pumps us up!

The City of Asheville has initiated North Carolina’s first large-scale deployment of LED street lights. This large-scale deployment, made possible through a grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, allows Asheville to take the necessary steps to improve energy efficiency and reduce its overall carbon footprint.

Street Lights in Asheville, North Carolina

In the initial phase of the project, completed in June 2011, 730 street lights were replaced with 67-watt to 195-watt LEDway® luminaires. An additional 2,913 LEDway® street lights are currently being installed, and the City anticipates saving 50 percent of current energy use and maintenance costs due to the LED upgrade.

“Upgrading to LED street lights allows us to decrease energy consumption, increase energy efficiency and contribute to the sustainability of our community,” said Maggie Ullman, energy coordinator for the Asheville Office of Sustainability. “This exciting initiative helps affirm Asheville’s role as a leader in carbon footprint reduction.”

Street Lights in Asheville, North Carolina

Here are just some of the benefits of the Asheville installation project:

  • By upgrading all HPS and mercury vapor street lights to LEDway® luminaires, the City anticipates a savings of approximately $260,000 per year from the combined energy and maintenance savings.
  • Phase one of the LEDway® luminaires installation reduces the City’s carbon footprint by an estimated one percent and saves approximately $45,000 in energy cost per year.

In addition to saving energy, this installation demonstrates how municipalities and local utilities can work together. “As more municipalities commit to replacing outdated, inefficient lighting with the support of their local utilities, LED adoption and consumer awareness continue to increase,” said Christopher Ruud, President of Ruud Lighting, a Cree Company. “We applaud the City of Asheville and Progress Energy for working together for the benefit of its citizens demonstrating the growing trend of cities and municipalities working together to join the LED lighting revolution.”

Is your city taking the necessary steps to install LED lighting? Tell us about it.

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Posted in BetaLED, LED Cities | 4 Comments »

Highlights from President Barack Obama’s visit to Cree

Friday, June 17th, 2011


President Barack Obama visited Cree Monday to meet with his Jobs and Competitiveness Council and to address employees. Here are some highlights from his visit and from his remarks.

For more coverage of President Obama’s visit to Cree, check out our recap.

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Posted in Cree | 4 Comments »

Happy anniversary to the first LEED-certified McDonald’s in North Carolina

Thursday, July 15th, 2010

Four years ago, Ric Richards had to decide what to do with an aging McDonald’s franchise he just purchased in Cary, NC. The 25-year-old building was going to need “serious reinvestment,” he said, requiring major renovations to the front of the restaurant and drive-thru.

So Ric decided to do something he dreamed of ever since stepping foot in the first green McDonad’s in Savannah, Ga. He decided he was going to tear down the old McDonald’s and go for the gold. Ric wanted to achieve a gold LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.

Mcdonalds Old Cary

Here's what the Cary McDonald's looked like before it was rebuilt.

“This was going to be the right thing to do,” Ric told me when I interviewed him last year about his decision.

Today marks the one-year anniversary of Ric’s dream coming true. The green McDonald’s in Cary’s Saltbox Village shopping center opened its doors one year ago today, and Ric and his crew are inviting the public to celebrate from 4 to 7 p.m. (for those readers who live in the area).

Once the decision was made to demolish the old McDonalds, 99 percent of the building materials were recycled. Then, a variety of sustainable goods – from tables made of bamboo and sunflower seeds to denim insulation – were used in the reconstruction. And, of course, we were thrilled when Ric decided to light the restaurant, inside and out, with LED lights.

Here's what it looks like today.

Here's what it looks like today.

In fact, 95 percent of the restaurant is lit with energy-saving LED lights. Nearly all of the general illumination inside the McDonald’s comes from Cree LED lights. And the LED lights in his store consume 78 percent less electricity compared to a standard lighting package at other McDonald’s restaurants.

Cree LR6 recessed downlights light up the order area.

Cree LR6 recessed downlights light up the order area.

In January, the USBGC announced that Rich’s goal had been achieved. The Cary McDonald’s earned gold LEED certification.

The dining room is lit with Cree LRP-38 LED lights.

The dining room is lit with Cree LRP-38 LED lights.

We’re proud of Ric’s accomplishment and thrilled that his new energy-efficient lights helped him achieve his dream. Now would someone please bring me some chicken McNuggets? I hear they look better under LED lights.

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Posted in LED Businesses, Places Rocking LED Lights | 1 Comment »

CBS News features LED lighting on “Where America Stands”

Monday, June 21st, 2010

CBS News recently visited some of the top LED lighting manufacturers in the industry – including Cree – to discuss the demise of Thomas Edison’s light bulb and the rise of LED Lighting.

The resulting 6-minute news package is packed with some good information about why CFLs aren’t the solution to the upcoming incandescent ban (many incandescent bulbs will be banned widely come 2014). If you’re not into video, you can read the CBS News story here.


Watch CBS News Videos Online

I love that the reporter says “The LED is clearly the near term future of lighting …” Those of us in the LED lighting business know that LED lighting is already ready. Heck, we show off great examples of places lit by LED lights here and give away five free LED lights every month in our photo contest.

And as Cree CEO Chuck Swoboda says in his interview with CBS News, you should be pleased with the light quality you get from LED lights. “The difference between a regular light bulb and an LED light bulb, what you should notice is almost nothing,” Swoboda said. “That’s the key to making the technology work.”

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Posted in Revolution | 1 Comment »

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.

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Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »