Green Options

Lighting Science Corporation has just announced a new breakthrough in high efficiency LED (light emitting diode) technology that outperforms existing LED streetlights, providing an even greater incentive for the nation’s roadways and institutions to make the switch from standard streetlights to more sustainable LED lighting.

The new LEDs, dubbed the PROLIFIC Series Roadway Luminaires, offer substantial savings over conventional HID (high intensity discharge) streetlighting.  Lighting Science also claims that PROLIFIC performs up to nearly 90 lumens per watt, giving it a big advantage over current LED technology, which performs at up to 60 lumens per watt.  To sweeten the payback even more, federal stimulus funds are available for cities to make the switch from conventional lighting to LED.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, along with President Bill Clinton, will retrofit LA with 140,000 LED streetlights starting this June. The initiative will save the city $48 million, and reduce carbon emissions by 197,000 tons.

In order to save on electricity costs, three German towns have begun testing a program that requires residents to call ahead to request street lighting be turned on late at night.

Residents in Lemgo, Schwelentrup-Doerntrup, and Rahden pay up to 10 cents a minute for lighting after 11 pm under the plan, called Dial4Light. People use cell or landlines to call the city, give their route and time period when light is needed, and then a computer system triggers the lights to turn on along the path.

The plan is a creative effort to save energy, but could result in a whole different set of problems.