Light Up the Skyline: LEDs Transform City Landscapes
Traditional lamps had been both inefficient and costly wasting both energy and funds allocated for municipal electricity budgets. It is estimated that roughly 3.5 billion dollars is wasted by excessive outdoor lighting, office buildings and exterior fixtures (e.g. street lamps) every year. Now that LED technology has taken off, many municipal engineers and street lighting bureaus have done the math and realized that shifting municipal lighting from traditional bulbs to LED lamps is by far the better choice for cost effective, higher quality urban lighting.
One of the first major cities to realize this and move towards converting their exterior lighting to LED was Los Angeles. Initially the city was spending around $16 million every year on electricity costs. Initial estimates showed a 40% reduction in energy expenses, but after the first phase of the conversion was over, the hard data showed an incredible 63% savings. This year the city of L.A. is expected to save $8.8 million dollars on their electric bill and approximately $3 million more in maintenance costs. Now, many more cities are stepping up and making plans to convert some of their municipal lighting fixtures to LED systems.
As these systems become more integrated and large scale the need for effective testing and calibration equipment is going to become essential. LED technology represents a burgeoning field that requires fast and accurate measurement. Konica Minolta has incredible high quality LED testing systems available that provide highly efficient measurements, as well as the supporting software necessary to make your data work for you.
For highly efficient measurements, the following products are recommended:
You can find more information on Konica Minolta’s instruments available to the lighting industry on our dedicated page.
