Ann Arbor to convert 75% of fixtures to LEDs by 2011

Wednesday, October 27, 2010 | Source: Concentrate

Lights along Ann Arbor's West Stadium Boulevard and at Mack Pool were the latest to be converted to more energy-efficient LEDs - light-emitting diodes.

In May, City Council approved a $218,000 contract to install 88 LEDs in the ornamental streetlights along West Stadium Boulevard and secured a state grant to replace many of the high-powered lights in city buildings, such as fire station garages and Mack Pool.

Andrew Brix, the city's energy programs manager, says the installation went as "smooth as silk" and the lights are now using about half the energy they were before. "Sometimes, with lighting, the best thing that can happen is no one notices the difference," he says.

The LED lights on the deck at Mack Pool are installed and work started last week on the parking garage at Fourth and Washington, a project that will include both LED and florescent lights and will probably take another week to finish. The garage includes three below-ground half-floors, where the lights are on all the time, and will include a control system that allows for programming for sensing movement.

Other projects will continue through the winter, including outdoor fixtures on the garage at the Wheeler Service Center. Those street lights will continue to be converted to LEDs. "We'll continue to evaluate (projects) as technology improves and funding is available, and if it makes sense we'll do it," he says.

The project is timed to coincide with a seminar on municipal LED lighting scheduled for tomorrow, giving municipalities the chance to share their experiences with other cities. The overall goal is to convert 75 percent of the 1,600 city-owned streetlights into LEDs by next spring.

Source: Andrew Brix, energy programs manager for the city of Ann Arbor
Writer: Kristin Lukowski