Pennsylvania towns are saving millions by teaming up to buy LED lights.

Lansdale Borough officials had talked for years about replacing all the borough’s outdoor lights with more energy-efficient LEDs. One thing was stopping them: money.

“It’s just that it’s quite an investment to try to pay for,” said Andy Krauss, electric superintendent of the Montgomery County town.

So Lansdale’s practice over the last several years was to wait for streetlights to malfunction and replace them one by one with LED lights, which meant uneven lighting.

But in a few months, the streetlights, traffic lights, lighting in parks and parking lots, and other exterior light fixtures the borough owns will all be LED, thanks to an unusual partnership with neighboring towns that could serve as a national model for municipalities, according to the National League of Cities.

Read the full article:   http://www.philly.com/philly/news/pennsylvania/led-peco-energy-dvrpc-climate-change-boston-kansas-city-20180629.html

EWINDOW Artificial Daylight System

Daylight & the EWINDOW System

Daylight has been the most important lighting source to us throughout human history. Studies have shown that daylight has great impact on humans, not only to provide illumination, but also to improve our mood and physical health. EWINDOW is an artificial daylight system that simulates the natural rhythm of daylight and adjusts for time, seasons latitude and architecture.

Natural View

Meeting the need for contact with the outside living environment is an important psychological aspect linked to daylight (Robbins, 1986). Because natural views tend to produce positive responses, they may be more effective in reducing stress, decreasing anxiety, holding attention, and improving mood. Studies in 1979, 1981, and 1986 by Ulrich (Heerwagen 1986) support the effectiveness of natural views. EWINDOW provide a vivid scene with sky, clouds and sunshine, to reproduce daylight indoors.

Natural Rhythms

Almost everything under the sun follows the rhythms of the sun. The biological clock is involved in many aspects of our complex physiology. We now know that all multicellular organisms, including humans, utilize a similar mechanism to control circadian rhythms. A large proportion of our genes are regulated by the biological clock and , consequently, a carefully calibrated circadian rhythm adapts our physiology to the different phases of the day (Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2017).

EWINDOW creates a strong daylight-like environment, and it can synchronize with lighting the sun’s ambiance throughout the day. By corresponding with natural daylight rhythms, EWINDOW corresponds with our circadian cycle.

Natural Lighting

Daylight has great impact on our lives and it is an essential part of architecture. But it varies with many factors, such as architecture, latitude, climate, seasons. As an artificial lighting source, EWINDOW does not have these restrictions, making daylight a viable option for interior spaces. Architects and designers now have the ability to integrate artificial daylight into areas not possible before.

The EWINDOW Artificial Daylight System

Introducing a new way to illuminate interior spaces. EWINDOW’s patented design integrates a 3D simulated sky scene, synchronized to the patterns of natural sunlight throughout the day, adjusting for seasons, latitude and ambient light conditions to emulate an exterior window. Settings are easily adjusted using a wall mounted control panel, smartphone app or DALI controls.  Perfect for office, hotel, retail, healthcare, school, underground and home use.

Download the EWINDOW brochure here.

Cloud & Blue Sky View

Special LEDs are used to light up the sky and clouds, then transform them into a translucent 3D image, so the performance of the EWINDOW simulates a real sky and clouds.  For those who prefer the pure blue sky, we also provide the EWINDOW with a very clear blue sky and its infinite depth to reproduce the true effect of the light and space outdoor.

Controls

The EWINDOW system can be controlled wall mounted control panel, an APP or via the Dali system. All are simple to set up and easy to use.

Mounting Frames

Choose from recessed or surface mounting frames.

Or custom build your own surrounds.

Applications

Daylight at Home

We spend many time at home, we all want to make our home to be a better place, full of love and caring. A few studies in dwellings show that natural light is the single most important attribute in a home, with over 60% of respondents ranking it as important (Finlay,2012). A WHO survey involving eight cities across Europe, showed that individuals who report inadequate natural light in their homes have a greater risk of depression and falls (Brown,2011).

Daylight in Offices

Many of us spend many time in office, working a lot and under a lot of pressure. The lighting in office should focus on increasing working productivity and decreasing working pressure for employees. Natural light helps maintain good health and can cure some medical ailments. The pleasant environment created by natural light decreases stress levels for office workers. Productivity increases with the improved health of workers and with better productivity comes financial benefits for employers (L. Edwards and P. Torcellini, 2002).

Daylight in Hotels

The lighting in hotels should respond to the exact needs of guests, expressing itself to customers in a pleasant and relaxing way. Lighting should also make people feel safe and secure in their environment. EWINDOWS address both of these needs.

Daylight in Retail

Daylighting provides retail customers with an inviting and pleasant ambiance, creating a more pleasurable shopping experience. A bright and inviting atmosphere also attracts customers, inviting them into the retail environment.

Daylight in Underground

As the populations grow, our cities become more and more crowded, requiring underground facilities. But in an underground environment, natural light can barely be seen, if at all. EWINDOW provides a dynamic daylighting environment that imitates the natural rhythm of natural lighting, decreases feelings of being shut in, and helps to align our biological clock to a natural cycle.

Daylight in Schools

School is an important place for children throughout their developing lives. Lighting within educational facilities should be aligned with childrens’ physiological and psychological needs. A Daystar article,” Benefits of Natural Daylighting” (1998), states that there is increased student and teacher attendance , increased achievement rates, reduced fatigue factors, improved student health, and enhancement of general development in environments where greater daylighting is present.

Daylight in Healthcare

Daylight is widely used in healthcare facilities. Studies indicate that daylighting can lower a facility’s operating costs because patients recover faster in day-lit recovery centers. The spatial quality from windows has also been cited as having a psycho-therapeutic quality by providing pastoral views and natural light; therefore, an environment becomes more therapeutic with more spatial quality (Vischer 1986; Verderber 1983). EWINDOWS provides this benefit in areas where windows and skylights are not possible.

Click here to learn more.

Restoring Detroit’s Street Lighting System

 

The City of Detroit is undertaking a comprehensive restoration of its street lighting system that includes transitioning the existing high-pressure sodium (HPS) sources to light-emitting diode (LED). Detroit’s well-publicized financial difficulties over the last several years have added many hurdles and constraints to this process. Strategies to overcome these issues have largely been successful, but have also brought a few mixed results. This document provides an objective review of the circumstances surrounding the system restoration, the processes undertaken and decisions made, and the results so far.

While the lighting transition in Detroit is still ongoing, the new system has already vastly improved on the failed system that preceded it. According to publicized estimates at the time, only about half of the roughly 88,000 total installed units in the old system were in reliable operating condition. Such conditions make it difficult to establish a baseline for comparisons; for example, an overall (but factually inaccurate) assumption that all 88,000 lights were in operating order was necessary to produce postrestoration energy and cost savings estimates in this analysis. Allowing for this and other simplifying assumptions, Table ES.1 summarizes a few of the estimated benefits that can be expected from the street lighting transition once completed in 2016.

Read the full study here:   http://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2015/09/f27/2015_restoring-detroit.pdf

Reconstructed Bridge in Minneapolis Shines Bright with LED Lighting

This report describes the process and results of a demonstration of solid-state lighting (SSL) technology conducted in 2009 at the recently reconstructed I-35W bridge in Minneapolis, MN. The project was supported under the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solid-State Lighting GATEWAY Technology Demonstration Program. Other participants in the demonstration project included the Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT), Federal Highways Administration (FHWA), and BetaLED™ (a division of Ruud Lighting). Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) conducted the measurements and analysis of the results.

Read the full report:   http://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2015/08/f25/gateway_i-35w-bridge.pdf

LEED-Certified Tacoma Police Department Warehouse Saves with LED Upgrades

The City of Tacoma launched its Climate Action Plan in 2008, with goals and strategies to reduce its carbon footprint. The Tacoma Police Department’s fleet warehouse is LEED-certified and the Headquarters building is LEED-certified silver. This emphasis on sustainability helped Christopher Bostain, Lead Facilities Maintenance Mechanic at the Police Department, convince management to undertake an LED lighting retrofit project despite high initial costs. Tacoma Public Utility’s lighting incentive program made the installations of LED parking lot lights, LED wall mounted lights and LED floodlights more affordable. The whole project took 1.5 years and was completed in the summer of 2011. Specifically for the parking lot lights, the projected annual maintenance cost savings of $3,000 – $4,000 per year was a key factor in the project’s approval. Tacoma Public Utilities originally calculated a 17 year payback period for the parking lot lights factoring in electrical savings only. When annual maintenance savings and utility incentives were included, Bostain calculated the payback period at 7 years. Payback periods are much shorter today

Read the full report:   https://www.bpa.gov/EE/Utility/marketing/casestudies/TacomaPolice_casestudy.pdf

LED Provides Effective and Efficient Parking Area Lighting at the NAVFAC Engineering Service Center

Investigating ways to reduce energy consumption and costs, the Navy’s Technology Validation (Techval) Program with support from the Department of Energy, Federal Energy Management Program, sought to demonstrate the new LED technology for parking areas. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command Engineering Service Center (NAVFAC ESC) Headquarters was selected as their first LED demonstration.

Read the full report:   http://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2014/01/f7/led_parking_lights_navfac.pdf

Marine Corps Base Quantico Achieves 85% Savings in Parking Lighting

With technical assistance from the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP), the Marine Corps Base Quantico (MCBQ) recently undertook a major overhaul of its outdoor lighting, boosting safety and security throughout the site, while cutting energy costs and earning a national award in the process. The MCBQ replaced nearly 2,000 old and inefficient street lights, parking lot lights, and exterior area lights across the 1,000-acre site, which includes about 100 parking lots.

Read the full report:   http://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2014/12/f19/mcb_quantico_2014.pdf