What Is This Funny White Light and Why Is Ann Arbor Michigan Relighting Its Entire City With It?

Transcription

1 What Is This Funny White Light and Why Is Ann Arbor Michigan Relighting Its Entire City With It? By Bob Hahn The following is a one-on-one conversation with The City of Ann Arbor s Assistant Manager of Field Operations, Mike Bergren. Mike is a 22-year employee and currently heads up all street lighting, traffic signals, and any other outdoor-related signals. Ann Arbor is currently testing LED street lighting in their downtown district and residential streets. Q.: The City of Ann Arbor recently shifted to replacing its current street lighting of High Pressure Sodium and Metal Halide bulbs with Light Emitting Diodes. What led to this decision? A.: Currently we have a moratorium on new lighting because our electric bills are continually growing and budgets are continually shrinking. We are looking at alternative ideas for lighting that will help cut our energy bills rather than increase our maintenance and energy costs. We have been looking into products that will save in that direction. We have been working with Relume Technologies and Holophane on LED street lights and decorative lighting. We have a test area where we have installed them and have received positive feedback from the citizens of the city. We are also enjoying the fact we don t have to change the bulbs. Most of our new lighting will be directed toward these new energy-saving products; and the best thing we have seen so far is LED street lighting. Page 26 Test Area Mike Berren with test sign Q.: Has the city mandated all new lighting be LED? A.: We are pushing in that direction. The mayor, John Hieftje, is fully behind this project. As new buildings are erected and new infrastructure installed, he has made it clear he prefers to see all lighting be LED. We do not have an official stance; but we definitely are going in that direction. Q.: Backing up a bit, what led you to look into LED lighting in the first place? A.: I ve been in the traffic signal world for 20 years. We ve had LED traffic signals here for at least 10 years. We had some of the first prototypes, and they work excellent. We don t replace them. They don t burn out. I have been asking for LED street lights for the last four years. I was told by different electrical suppliers we can t have them they don t produce. Then I contacted Relume Technologies, but they were hesitant about making us one. They said they would not meet IES standards. We looked at the standards. They are only recommendations and only cover highway use and parking lots. We are looking at a lot of residential street lighting, decorative lighting where standards aren t as stringent or they re nonexisting. This allowed the company the comfort level to go ahead and make one. It has actually outperformed what we were looking for and what they thought they could produce. Q.: What steps did you take to get a test site up and running? A.: We started a test sight with two forms of lighting. We are testing LED cobra heads which are your normal type of street fixture and 20 Lumec decorative globes in our downtown district. We had only two cobra heads at one time. That was an easy test; and no political decisions had to be made on installing them. The test for the downtown globes covered one city block. This involved Continued on page 27

2 What Is This Funny White Light... Continued from page 26 a little more capital. We worked with our Downtown Development Authority who paid for half of the test site. It has been a bit of a political handshake as they are interested in the same product we are. Relume's New LED Street Lighting Technology Q.: The test site has been up for awhile. What are the results of this experiment? A.: Let s talk about the cobra head first. We are getting excellent reports that we don t have any light trespass. LED lighting is very directional. We can control the overspill of light, preventing the light from shining on the lawn, on to the house faces, waking up little Jr. sleeping. Some of the residents have expressed concern it s not shining light on their front door anymore. But, as a municipality, our true lighting requirement is the roadway and our right of way. We are not in the business of lighting up front doors and garages. We encourage residents to use their front porch lights and architectural lighting, as needed, for safety. As a city, we are responsible for the greater number; and the greater number has asked us to keep the light out of their windows. Relume's Ann Arbor Retrofit Program Patented Silver Circuit Technology Relume thermally manages the heat given off by high output LED s better than anyone in the industry. Thus allowing the LEDs to burn brighter, last longer and cost less. Energy Savings reduce your current wattage usage by 50% or more. Maintenance Savings with a year expected life, light bulb changing is no longer a priority. Dark Skies Friendly Minimal Light Pollution with virtually no optical radiation above the horizon. Neighborhood Friendly Closely defined optical beam pattern puts light exactly where it is needed and away from where it is not. 7 Year Warranty Leading the industry. Retrofit easy plug-n-play design installs in minutes. Tested Thermal shock, mechanical vibration, Salt Spray, Soak Test, 1M Drop, GM4901 Automotive, UL 48, UL Approved NEMA, UL & CSA Reduce Energy Costs by 50% with Relume s New LED Street Light Technology Ann Arbor Night Now, for the downtown globes, the response has been extremely positive. We have a web address to comments. We have posted signs in the test areas telling people to Continued on page 28 Visit our web site or call for more information Research Drive, Farmington Hills, Michigan Toll Free (877) info@lumecon.com September/October 2006 Page 27

3 Light... Continued from page 27 us their feelings, what they truly think. So far it has been 98% positive. They like it. We have had energy commissioners, people from Ontario, and from all over come to look at this test site to see what s going on, what it looks like. I ve even spoken with the merchants who have the lights in front of their stores. Most didn t even know we changed the lights. The trained eye looks at them and notices something is different; but people walking down the street don t notice if they are not looking upward. New Vs. Old A.: One complained that the light was too harsh, hard on their eyes. Both manufacturers have told me they can tone the brightness down if we want not a major issue. The other one said the light fixture was creating a dark cavern through the downtown district. This is the same report that complained about us not shining light onto their garage, windows and bushes. It s just a different point of view. Q.: What requirements did you give to the LED manufactures before they started this project? Ann Arbor Globe Lamp A.: We first set a dollar amount we wanted to hit with both our test lamps and then final product lamps. We also told them the lights had to have at least a.5-foot candle hitting the pavement at the base of the pole. This went for both the cobra head and the globes. Both companies have succeeded. Q.: Was there any other light output requirements? A.: We required the light output to match the pool of light being put out by the current technology. The LEDs output is immense compared to what we thought we might get. The LED cobra heads we were given were to be installed at 25 feet. We actually installed them at 30 feet, and they are hitting with plenty of light intensity. Ann Arbor Relume-Lumecon Night The light output on the ground is the same as we were putting out before; but there is no light shining up toward the upper floors. We have a lot of downtown lofts, and the residents are much happier. We used to receive a lot of complaints. They are now experiencing darkness at night. Q.: How many s have you received? A.: So far I ve had 83. Q.: You stated the comments are running 98% positive. What have the 2% negative had to say? Page 28 Q.: What type of bulb did the LED cobra heads replace? A.: A 250-watt High Pressure Sodium for the cobra heads and the globes were 100-watt Metal Halide. Q.: Did you have any energy reduction requirements? A.: The LED companies told us what they could hit. If we wanted to reduce more energy, they would have to reduce the light output. The globe retrofits came in around 50 watts. We couldn t ask for much better. A 50% drop in energy in our downtown lights is awesome. Because of the previous lighting structure of our downtown globe, 60% of the light actually missed its target. That is a huge Continued from page 29

4 Light... Continued from page 28 amount of light to be missing. With the LEDs we now can concentrate them on our target, which is the sidewalk and the street near it. It did not take much to replicate the 40% we were hitting before. We are still testing the cobra head. The unit was built so we can change the wattage anywhere between 50 and 80 watts. Most of the time the unit runs at 50 watts and it s adequate. Q.: Let s talk about the Dark Skies Initiative. What do you know about it and how does it pertain to this project? A.: Actually I m on the panel to rewrite the city s lighting ordinance, which is very Dark Skies friendly. The fact that the LED cobra head uses a flat lens, keeping the light focused at their targets is crucial. The new ordinance will require flat lenses on all lighting whether it is LED or not. Once again, our intended target is only our right of way. By cutting off the light at the horizon and keeping it out of urban upper floors, we believe this approach to be very Dark Skies friendly. Currently the downtown globes are excellent for Dark Skies adherence. Envision looking at a globe with the top half grey when lit. Even though it is clear plastic, there is no light going up other than a little light being reflected from the interior bottom. You can still see the top of the globe. It s not black, but there is no light being emitted. be as new construction and new lighting needs arise, developers will help us offset some of our existing needs. That s all I can say right now. Q.: What type of light do the LEDs throw off? A.: It s a crisp white light. That s why we ve gotten a lot of positive comments from downtown. Part of our downtown right now is High Pressure Sodium with the dingy yellow glow. The downtown district shop owners do not like it. We were actually looking at changing over to Metal Halide, but I think changing over to LED is a much wiser move. You get greater longevity with a lower overall cost. Q.: As long as we are on the subject, LEDs are a different looking light bulb. Do you believe this poses a problem aesthetically? What has been your feedback? A.: It s not going to be a problem for the downtown. The general consensus is they like it better. We talked to the merchants and the merchants association. They think it adds a little pep to the downtown district. No longer is it ho-hum. It s new and different. We did not have to change out poles and luminaries in order to give the area a whole new look. Our streetscape is going on 15 years old now, and they were looking for an uplift. This is one way to do it and come out ahead. Continued from page 30 Q.: Now that you have completed testing, what is your plan going forward. A.: We have roughly 5,000 city-owned fixtures, 1,400 of them are the downtown globe fixtures. We want to get the downtown changed out as quickly as we can. It has the largest concentration of lights. Then we ll start changing out the cobra heads in the neighborhoods. We are not sure what we are going to do with our arterials yet. We have to see what the light spread is. We do not want a lot of choppiness through the major roadways. But for neighborhood lighting, we are lighting up the location of a STOP sign. We call it comfort lighting. It s not a security light. It s not a roadway light. It s considered comfort light. Light up intersections; throw up a few mid-blocks just to outline the streets. Those are the ones we will go after first. Q.: How do you plan to pay for all of these changeouts? A.: We are looking at several funding options that have not been released yet. One option may September/October 2006 Page 29

5 Light... Continued from page 29 As for the residential, you don t notice any pinpoints unless you look directly up at it because the fixture is so high. Q.: Do you have any other projects you are considering changing out to LEDs? A.: We are looking at our street name signs, left turn, and lane control signs. We have hundreds. Our policy is that we are not going to replace any more bulbs, ballasts or anything that burns out. Everything will be replaced with LEDs. All new installs will include LED light engines. Q.: Do you have any advice for cities looking to convert to LED? A.: If you are doing a streetscape, it s time to jump in with both feet. You have to remember it s less expensive to incorporate LEDs into a new fixture than to retrofit existing ones. In retrofitting you have to take out an existing, working support system. With a new fixture you can delete the bulbs and ballasts and substitute the LEDs, only paying for one not both. You also drop your needs for your electrical loads. This is huge when you re talking cabling, contactors, conduit size. Everything can now reflect the fact you re operating at 50 watts, not 100 watts. Hurdles you need to look out for when retrofitting depend on how old your equipment is. We noticed a lot of our globes were cracked, so we are working with Relume and Lumec at the same time to partner them in hopes of getting new globes with LEDs at a married cost. Q.: How long will it take for the LED retrofits to pay for themselves? A.: It s roughly a three-year payback period. It depends on which bulb and wattage you re comparing. Obviously, if you re replacing a 250-watt bulb with a 50-watt solution, you re going to have a much faster payback. The threeyear estimate would apply to the 100-watt Metal Halide being replaced with a 50-watt LED solution. The math includes energy, maintenance savings, along with the cost of retrofitting. Q.: After the payback period, how much will each light save the city? A.: The last estimate is just over $100 per year per light. The life expectancy is somewhere between years. Most manufacturers are offering a 5-year warranty. Relume offers a 7-year warranty. Obviously, the better the LED light engine manufacturer manages the heat being produced from the LED, the longer the product will last. Page 30 Q.: If I were a city maintenance worker and my city goes LED, should I be worried about being out of a job? A.: The reality is city workers are overworked and we don t have enough staff to maintain the stuff in the first place. Changing over will allow us to save hundreds of thousands of dollars, keep the lights lit, and give us time to maintain something else we have been neglecting. Q.: Who will do all these retrofits - the LED companies, your staff, or someone else? A.: We actually have crews that maintain our own lighting. They will do all the changeouts as part of their normal job duties. If we didn t have our own staff, we could contract it out. Detroit Edison is our main contractor for residential lighting. They work for us. They will install whatever we ask them. We pay the entire bill. We have been in talks with DTE and Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) in regard to what we re doing here with LED lights. We will be working with them to get a better rate structure for the lower wattage. The rates we are charged for the lease of the pole, the energy, and maintenance is all set by MPSC. MPSC currently is not geared up for a 10-year life or a 50-watt bulb. We will have to work with them to get a new rate sheet specifically for LEDs. Q.: Have you had any resistance from energy companies? Aren t you costing them opportunity and profits? A.: From the talks I ve had with DTE, they d be more than happy to support us because it s a plus for them. They have the same issues we have. They have more work than they have bodies. Even though we pay them to maintain, they can t always get there, they have the same problem too much work and not enough staff. Q.: Mike, is there anything else you would like to add? A.: I don t think so, other than the University of Michigan is doing the same test we are. I have not had a chance to discuss anything with them yet; but I think they and anyone else looking at LEDs will have the same kind of success. It s amazing. We were told we couldn t do LEDs because the light output is not there. It is there. Visual Acuity is the key. It s a huge factor in security. LEDs give you better visual lighting even though your intensities are lower. It s immense. We were told it would never work. It does work. It works very well. Focus the light down where it belongs, light up your intersection, light up your stop signs, and outline your streetscape. You can t beat it.