The City of Berkeley recently approved a project to upgrade approximately 8,000 streetlights to LED technology by the end of 2014. The project is expected to cut the city’s CO2 emissions from streetlight energy consumption by 50% and reduce Berkeley’s total emissions by about 7%.
“We would like to thank the Bay Area Climate Collaborative, California Energy Commission and the California Lighting Technology Center for their support in getting this project to design and construction,” said Phillip Harrington, Berkeley’s Deputy Public Works Director.
With support from the Energy Commission’s Public Interest Energy Research program, CLTC partnered with the Bay Area Climate Collaborative (BACC) to provide guidance on best practices for street lighting, as well as cost-benefit analyses, technical assistance and specification development. The effort was part of the BACC’s Next Generation Streetlight Initiative. Initiative partners include Cooper Lighting, LeoTek and Pacific Gas and Electric Company.
“Upgrading to more energy-efficient lights moves us closer to achieving our ambitious sustainability goals,” said Harrington, adding that the streetlight retrofit project will also help to reduce the city’s day-to-day costs while improving his department’s operational efficiency.
Berkeley’s Climate Action Plan includes the goal of reducing citywide emissions 33% by 2020 and 80% by 2050. The relight project will cost about $3,000,000, but it is projected to save the city nearly $400,000 annually in energy costs.
“Cities across the Bay Area and elsewhere in the country are switching over to LED streetlights to take advantage of the many benefits from this technology,” said BACC Executive Director Rafael Reyes.
Learn more about this project.
Read CLTC Director Michael Siminovitch’s “The Long View on Streetlight Retrofits.”