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How LED Lighting Will Change the Way We See Our Cities

The Spreading of the LED Revolution

Ooutdoor LED landscape lighting californiaver the past several months, this blog has expounded elaborately on the benefits of LED lighting – in particular, LED street lighting. However, fortunately, we’re no longer just lone voices in the woods. The mainstream press has begun to pick up this story.

A recent articles in Forbes, for instance, describes the Municipal LED street lighting revolution spreading across cities in California and beyond. Ed Ebrahimian, Los Angeles’ Bureau of Street Lighting Director, said his city has spent over $57 million to retrofit 215,000 lights in the City of Angels. The Forbes story describes the benefits of this transition in vivid detail:

“Next time you fly into L.A. late, take a good look… Five years ago, a bright orange blanket of light used to saturate the city and stain the air above. Today, it’s a metropolis aglow with tens of thousands of cool silvery pinpoint lights. The grid is clearer. The skies are blacker.”

L.A. is in the process of converting its many streetlights to more energy-efficient, beautiful and long-lasting LED lights. Per the Forbes article: “By 2020, LEDs are expected to account for 100 million of the installed base of 155 million streetlights. Annual sales of LED streetlights will jump from $4.3 billion to $10.2 billion in the same time period.” The biggest U.S. cities, including New York, Boston, and Seattle, are all jumping onboard – seizing the opportunity to save massively on maintenance costs, conserve fuel and create safer places for citizens.

Here’s another intriguing benefit that’s not often discussed, even among LED advocates. Our circadian rhythms respond very sensitively to light at night. There is some evidence that suggests that the type of light emitted by LEDs may be easier on the human metabolism. When we’re exposed to too much ambient light at night, we don’t sleep as well. Our melatonin levels are not as effectively regulated.

Cut Your Lighting Maintenance Costs with LED Lighting

Whether you’re retrofitting your city’s lighting grid or renovating your company‘s plaza, turn to the team here at Great Basin Lighting for insights into outdoor lighting design solutions. Call us at 925-240-1566 (California) or 775-333-0900 (Nevada) for a free estimate.