Residents of Boston will be seeing the city in a whole new, brighter light thanks to new light-emitting diode (LED) street lighting from Philips. Improving the city's energy use and environmental footprint, more than 14, 000 mercury-vapor street and roadway luminaires are being replaced in Boston neighborhoods by Philips Hadco's New RX1 and RX2. The LED's – which maximize energy savings and provide uniform, comfortable and aesthetically-pleasing white light – are expected to save the city approximately 8.9 million kilowatt hours of energy each year, yielding a savings of about $1.1 million annually in the cost of electricity.
"With these new LED street lights, Boston continues to live up to its reputation as one of the greenest cities in the country, " said Mayor Menino. "Not only do these lights help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, they also save the City money in tough economic times. We're excited to add these aesthetic and durable lighting fixtures to our streets! "
The RX1 is based on the Philips LEDGINE LED platform, which features industry-leading LUXEON LEDs and a modular approach which allows for future upgrades as the technology advances. The new lighting will help eliminate more than 5, 000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually and enable Boston to further its billing as the "3rd Greenest City in North America" according to Popular Science magazine. The project also coincides with the release of the City's updated climate action plan, "A Climate of Progress, " which calls for reducing citywide greenhouse gas emissions 25-percent by 2020.
"Boston is among a growing group of environmentally and fiscally responsible cities that understand the long-term benefits of adopting innovative lighting technologies such as LED, " said Zia Eftekhar, chief executive officer of Philips Lighting North America. "Philips has a rich history in the Boston area and we are proud to share the city's commitment to sustainability by contributing to its green efforts with our RX1 LED street lighting system. "
Designed to last for about 18 years, or four times longer than the lamps they are replacing, the Philips Hadco RX1 and RX2 LEDGINE luminaires are also expected to generate considerable savings in maintenance costs for the city. They are mercury-free and are available in multiple color temperatures.
"Philips Hadco delivered on everything we were looking for – from energy savings and outage reductions to enhanced visibility and improved light uniformity, " said Glenn Cooper, associate electrical engineer, Street Lighting Division, city of Boston. "This investment in LED lighting is aesthetically, environmentally and economically beneficial, a combination that all taxpayers can appreciate. "
Installation is expected to be complete in December 2011. Philips Hadco worked with Hurry Associates on this project.
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