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.
