Friday 11 February 2022
Smart LEDs to help City of Chicago save $100m on electricity costs
The City of Chicago is projected to save more than $100 million (£73.8m) on electricity costs over the next 10 years following the completion of its smart street lighting modernisation project.
The Chicago Smart Lighting Programme (CSLP), believed to be the largest city-led wireless smart street light project in the US, saw the installation of around 280,000 street light fixtures across the city.
Contractor Ameresco replaced around 85% of the city's lights with smart LEDs as part of the four-year, $160 million (£118m) project, with the new fixtures using 50% - 75% less electricity - helping halve energy costs and cut its carbon footprint – and lasting two to three times as long as traditional high-pressure sodium lights.
The City of Chicago is projected to save $12.4 million (£9.2m) on electricity this year alone.
Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) Commissioner Gia Biagi said: “Creation of the lighting management system puts us in the forefront of smart cities around the nation.
“The programme has made Chicago a greener city and is providing clearer, more reliable nighttime lighting in every neighbourhood. And the smart lighting management is making our operations more efficient, enabling our workforce to respond to outages more quickly when they occur.”
The project was completed in collaboration with the City of Chicago, the Chicago Department of Transportation, Itron, John Burns Construction and Lyons View Manufacturing.
Lou Maltezos, Executive Vice President, Ameresco added: “We are proud to be Chicago’s partner in delivering a truly transformational project.
“We commend the City of Chicago and its leadership for successfully completing a project that has become a blueprint for future smart lighting implementations. One of the major benefits of the Chicago Smart Lighting Program is, of course, the energy savings which then translates into cost savings and ultimately a reduction in the city’s carbon footprint.”
