Los Angeles joins the growing list of cities converting conventional streetlights to LED technology. The City plans to retrofit a total of 140,000 LED fixtures in local and residential neighborhoods over the course of the next five years as part of the green streetlight program.
The LED streetlights are estimated to reduce L.A.’s energy usage by 40 percent as well as lower carbon dioxide emissions by 40,500 tons per year (roughly the equivalent of taking 6,700 cars of the road).
On February 16, President Clinton announced that the Outdoor Lighting Program of the Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI) is working with Los Angeles on the largest LED street lighting retrofit project ever undertaken by a city to date. Over a five-year period, the City of Los Angeles’ Bureau of Street Lighting will replace 140,000 existing streetlight fixtures in the city with LED (light-emitting diode) units that not only will improve L.A.’s lighting quality and reduce its electricity use, but also will help the city to save money in the process.
While typical streetlight lamps will last from four to six years, LED fixtures have a longer life span, estimated from 10 to 12 years. The new, white-light LED streetlight units are more durable and damage-resistant than other technologies. This not only will reduce the frequency and cost to repair streetlight fixtures, but also will provide L.A. with considerable savings in labor and material. The improved equipment life also means that fixtures will more reliably light streets and sidewalks for city residents.
