Green Light - Welcome to NYC.gov | City of New York

1 Green LightSustainable Street lighting for NYCAs our city grows, and as clean air and safe streets become more important to residents and businesses, pioneering innovative transportation policies will be more critical than ever. Investments in LED stoplights and retrofits to city -owned buildings have already saved the city money and reduced the city s energy consumption. The opportunity exists to go much further. - Mayor Michael R. BloombergNew york has always shaped the future by introducing and popularizing the next big thing. Today we play that role with the technology of sustaina- bility. The scale of new york is great enough to build a strong market for in-novations such as LED street lighting , which will speed its adoption around the world. - Commissioner Janette Sadik-KhanGreen LightSustainable Street lighting for NYC CONTENTSEXECUTIVE SUMMARY STREET lighting IN NYC TODAY ENERGY EFFICIENCY IMPROVEMENTS TO DATELED lighting IN NYCAPPENDIXACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 13681214 NYCDOT Green Light | sustainable Street lighting for NYC 1 Well lit streets are vital to pedestrian and vehicle safetyWell lit streets are vital to pedestrian and vehicle safety.

2 Street lighting also facilitates evening use of parks, plazas and other areas for outdoor activi-ties. For both environmental and economic reasons many municipalities are investigating ways to improve lighting efficiency for the public realm. The following report documents current and proposed street Light projects that the new york city Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) has initiated to realize energy and cost savings while reducing the city s carbon the last half-century, new york city was illuminated by both high pres-sure sodium (HPS) and metal halide fixtures that by today s standards are very inefficient. In 1999, NYCDOT began installing an updated HPS lumi-naire that operated at a lower wattage than the older models, resulting in significant energy reduce energy use even further, NYCDOT has been exploring Light Emit-ting Diode (LED) and other new street lighting technology.

3 Ten years ago LED technology was not capable of providing sufficient illumination for streets and sidewalks. The only practical application for LED lighting that was both energy-efficient and economical was for use in signals and warning markers. NYCDOT conducted a successful pilot program during the 1990s to test the use of LED s in traffic signals. In May 2001 conversion of all incan-descent traffic signals to LED began, making new york city the first large city in the United States to do so. As of August 2009, nearly all traffic EXECUTIVE SUMMARYNYCDOT Green Light | sustainable Street lighting for NYC 2signals throughout the five boroughs have been converted to LED, produc-ing an annual energy savings of 81%. Now, for the first time, LED street lighting is available to potentially replace existing HPS luminaires providing comparable illumination at a far more affordable cost.

4 In 2009, NYCDOT will be testing LED lighting on both streets and sidewalks in locations in Central Park and along the FDR Drive. NYCDOT is partnering with the US Department of Energy (DOE) and the Climate Group (TCG) to develop an LED pilot program for new technolo-gies that will further reduce the city s greenhouse gas emissions and improve energy efficiency. DOT is participating in the DOE Gateway Program, which promotes the early adoption of commercial LED technology and helps cities to test and evaluate LED luminaires. It provides independent third party evaluations of LED products installed in real-world applications. Data collected from new york city s LED installations will quantify the performance of LED s and assist other cities interested in the conversion to LED the international level, new york city is a founding member of the Light Savers program organized by The Climate Group (TCG), a non-profit organi-zation dedicated to addressing climate change.

5 Through the Light Savers program, TCG is coordinating the testing and implementation of LED Light -ing in new york city and several other international cities to further demon-strate the commercial viability of the technology to reduce energy consump-tion and greenhouse gas emissions. Other cities that will be participating in TCG s LED lighting initiative include Toronto, London, Mumbai, Calcutta, Bangalore, Hong Kong, Beijing, and the installation of these and future energy-efficient lighting solutions, the new york city Department of Transportation is poised to become an international leader in Green is partnering with the US Department of Energy and The Climate Group to make energy efficiency improvements and test new technologies that will further reduce the city s greenhouse gas emissionsNYCDOT Green Light | sustainable Street lighting for NYC 3 The NYCDOT operates the largest municipal street lighting system in the countryThe new york city Department of Transportation (NYCDOT)

6 Operates the largest municipal street lighting system in the country. The agency main-tains approximately 300,000 lights throughout the city , including lighting for streets (262,000, including bridges and underpasses), parks (12,000) and highways (26,000) and installs new street lights and decorative fixtures. Appropriate lighting can reduce the number of accidents; increase security for pedestrians; facilitate vehicular and pedestrian traffic; and increase evening economic and community consumption and costsThe city purchases billion kWh annually and street lighting accounts for approximately 6% of total municipal energy Energy efficiency improve-ments made over the last few years are expected to reflect an additional 25% reduction in energy Between 2006 and 2009, the energy rates for production charged to new york city by utilities increased approximately 22% and delivery rates have gone up nearly 27%.

7 The rising costs for production and delivery of ener-gy further justify the improvements that NYCDOT has implemented and continue to pursue. 1 Mayor s Management Report 2008. Total electricity in kilowatt hours purchased by new york city in 2008 ( ) 2 new york city s comprehensive and complex street lighting system uses approximately million kWh at a cost of $50 million annually. NYCDOT is billed by Con Edison for estimated electricity use. There is a lag between billing and actual energy consumed. STREET lighting IN NYC TODAY2 NYCDOT Green Light | sustainable Street lighting for NYC 4 Current lighting fixturesN YC b e g a n u t i l i z i n g e l e c t r i c s t r e e t l i g h t s i n t h e e a r l y 1 9 0 0 s . Although many of the historical fixture designs for street and pedes-trian lighting are no longer available, several designs remain in use today.

8 The standard luminaires used by NYCDOT currently are the 100W and 150W high pressure sodium (HPS) cobra head for street lighting and 100W and 70W HPS for pedestrian lighting including park fixtures are for example typically found in historic or special districts; within Central Park there are 1,400 historic poles. Some Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) have selected or developed a deco-rative luminaire and pole to designate and characterize their commercial district. For example, the Downtown Alliance created a signature Light fix-ture for use in Lower Manhattan; other BIDs have selected decorative op-tions from the DOT s lighting catalogue included in DOT s recently released Street Design Manual. Street Design ManualThe Street Design Manual provides detailed information on Light -i n g a p p l i c a t i o n s , l a m p i n g / o p t i c s , m a t e r i a l s , c o l o r s , c o s t a n d spacing requirements in addition to design guidelines and refer-ences to specifications.

9 The Manual establishes standard Light -ing options that the agency will install and maintain as well as other options that may be included in capital construction projects or funded by local organizations. A sample entry from the Street Design Manual is included on the following page illustrating the Helm fixture. This particular fixture, currently located on Queens Boulevard, uses energy-efficient 100W HPS or 150W HPS lamps, as well as an option for full-cutoff illumination to control glare and upward york city Department of Transportation2009 The Downtown Alliance s signature Light fixture for use in Lower ManhattanStreet Design Manual, 2009 Standard cobraheadNYCDOT Green Light | sustainable Street lighting for NYC 5161l i g h t i n g: s t r e e t l i g h t i n HelmHelmUSAGe: OPTIONALThe Helm luminaire was piloted by NYC DOT on Queens Boulevard in 2008.

10 The design of the luminaire provides a contemporary option in place of the standard Cobra Head at an additional cost. ApplicationsCommercial districtsLamping/Optics100W HPS or 150W HPSFlat glass and curved sag glass opticsCutoff, or semi cutoff, IES Type II or IIIM aterial/ColorAluminum/silver, black, brown and greenCost Compared to SLP$$$Spacing/Typical : 1 Helm luminaire and WM pole: 39th Street, QueensExcerpt from Chapter 4 of the Street Design Manual NYCDOT Green Light | sustainable Street lighting for NYC 6 PolicyThe energy efficiency goals NYCDOT established over the last ten years were formalized in PlaNYC 2030. Released by Mayor Bloomberg in 2007, PlaNYC 2030 calls for a 30% reduction in the city s greenhouse gas emis-sions by 2030. In 2007, Executive Order 109 and Local Law 55 set ad-ditional goals for municipal energy consumption to be reduced 30% from 2006 levels by 2017.