LED City™: To save, protect and improve quality of life

The LED City™ is an expanding community of government and industry parties working to promote and deploy LED lighting technology across the full range of municipal infrastructure to:

• Save energy.
• Protect the environment.
• Reduce maintenance costs.
• Improve light quality for improved visibility and safety.
• Save tax dollars.

Launched in December, 2006 with a parking garage light pilot program in Raleigh, NC, supported by Cree, Lighting Science Group, AmTech Lighting Services and Progress Energy, the LED City community is providing a guide to accelerating the deployment of LED lighting for cities worldwide.

The pilot, replacing high-pressure sodium fixtures with LED fixtures, demonstrated a 40-percent energy savings. Respondents to surveys conducted before and after the transformation declared the LED light quality far superior, said the garage felt far safer and reported that their overall opinion of the garage significantly improved. The city of Raleigh is the first LED City because of its commitment to deploy LED light across its infrastructure.

Why LED City

Twenty-two percent of electricity in the U.S. is used for lighting. Ninety percent of the power used for a light bulb produces heat rather than light. LEDs are over four times more efficient than traditional incandescent light bulbs.

Glass bulbs with filaments and tubes break — easily and often. Incandescent bulbs are the most inefficient lighting source. Compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs are more efficient but still contain 5 milligrams of mercury, making them hazardous waste when they break or burn out.

LEDs offer the most efficient and environmentally clean — no mercury — lighting source. They are solid-state devices rather than glass tubes with filaments, which makes LEDs far more durable and long lasting. LEDs typically last 10-12 years, which significantly reduces maintenance costs and impact on landfills and the environment.

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