Ann Arbor OKs more LED streetlights

Wednesday, May 19, 2010 | Source: Concentrate

LED lights are already a staple in downtown Ann Arbor's streetlights, but the next generation of energy efficient lighting is about to become the go-to municipal light bulb in Tree Town.

The City Council has approved a $218,000 contract to install 88 LEDs in the ornamental streetlights along West Stadium Boulevard. The city is also in line to take advantage of a state grant that will allow it to replace many of the high-powered lights at its buildings throughout the city, such as the garage lights in fire stations and the lights at the Mack Pool.

"It's going beyond streetlights," says Andrew Brix, energy programs manager for the city of Ann Arbor. "This is the new frontier."

The overall goal is to make 75 percent of the 1,600 city-owned streetlights LED by next spring. There are a total of 7,000 streetlights in the city, the balance of which are owned by DTE Energy. The city and Detroit-based utility agreed on a LED streetlight pilot project for a student neighborhood south of campus earlier this year.

The city is also putting in the last of its 1,000 downtown streetlights in the Kerrytown area of downtown this week. Another 250 could be online soon, including the West Stadium street lights. Those lights are the acorn-shaped lamps between Pauline Street and Maple Road. Installation should begin in July and done before the end of summer.

That will be just in time for the city's LED seminar on Sept. 16. Then it will host officials from local municipalities across Michigan and the Midwest to demonstrate the virtues of LEDs, which are more expensive than normal incandescent bulbs but far more efficient because they use less than half the energy and last several years longer. They pay for themselves through electricity and maintenance savings within four years on average.

"We are going to be a regional showcase for LED lights," Brix says.

Source: Andrew Brix, energy programs manager for the city of Ann Arbor
Writer: Jon Zemke