City of Barrie Full-Scale LED Streetlight Conversion

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1 JUNE 2017 CASE STUDY Overview In 2015, City of Barrie converted its 10,700 streetlights to LED for significant cost savings, improved quality of service and environmental benefits. Benefits 60% energy savings 80% maintenance savings Total cost savings over $900,000/yr Reduced carbon emissions of 510t/yr City of Barrie Full-Scale LED Streetlight Conversion Driven by the potential energy and maintenance savings, City of Barrie converted its 10,700 streetlights to LED in less than 4 months. Background The City of Barrie is a community in Central Ontario with a current population over 140,000, which is quickly expanding. In 2014, the municipality began investigating opportunities to conserve energy, reduce maintenance requirements and lower carbon emissions related to streetlighting through an LED streetlight conversion. The City s Manager of Energy Management, Barry Thompson, was a key champion of the project, explaining early on:

2 Not only will LED lights help the City financially, but it is also the right choice for our planet. As a result of the LED Streetlight program, the amount of Greenhouse Gas emissions that will be reduced each year is equivalent to the amount of carbon sequestered by 14,000 tree seedlings grown for ten years. Barry Thompson, Manager of Energy Management The City also completed a pilot project for two years of LED streetlights along two residential roads prior to approving a full-scale retrofit. The local residents were surveyed for feedback on the new luminaires. All survey responses received were positive. 2

3 In 2015, City Council approved city-wide implementation of LED streetlight technology and decided on procuring a turnkey solution that provides Barrie with the design, upgrade and transfer of a retro-fitted system. The Business Case for Converting 10,700 Streetlights to LED: Building the Business Case The City of Barrie determined that the projected energy and maintenance cost savings of an LED streetlight retrofit presented an attractive business case. This was added to when the City qualified for an energy efficiency incentive of $962,000 awarded by the Independent Electricity Stem Operator (IESO) for exterior LED lighting projects. 3

4 The Scale-Up Process For a turnkey project solution, the City of Barrie acquired an energy service company (ESCO) through a sole source contract for the design, product procurement and project management, and had an open competition for installation services. The ESCO was responsible for the following: A complete and comprehensive digital streetlight inventory using a GIS/GPS platform; Lighting design solutions street by street that meet Illumination Engineering Society of North America Guidelines IES RP-8; Product ordering from the partner manufacturer, Cree Canada; Recycling and disposal of the incumbent luminaires and related products; and Project and quality management. Cree Canada provided LED roadway luminaires at 4000K correlated colour temperature (CCT) that consume approximately 60% less energy than the incumbent high pressure sodium (HPS) and are covered under a 10 year warranty. 4

5 Results LED streetlight installation began July 2015 and was completed by end of October This timing was ahead of schedule, which helped keep the project on budget and resulted in an additional cost avoidance of $280,000 for the year of In 2016, the energy and maintenance savings met or exceeded expectations. 10,700 Streetlights Converted to LED in Barrie Results in: Additionally, the LED luminaires have noticeably reduced excess light pollution and improved the quality of illumination. Although residents had previously expressed concerns the new LEDs may be too bright, of those who have given feedback post-installation, many perceive the light to be less bright and are no longer concerned. The image below shows the visibility conditions before and after LED streetlights on Anne St. South in Barrie. BEFORE AFTER It can also be estimated, based on resulting reduction in electricity use, that the full conversion to LED streetlights in the City of Barrie reduces annual carbon emissions by 510 metric tonnes. 5

6 Conclusions What s Transferable Key lessons from the City of Barrie s LED streetlight conversion that could be useful to other municipalities include: 1. Conducting a pilot project prior to full-scale implementation is a valuable opportunity to obtain public feedback and address concerns early on; 2. Acquiring organized and experienced project partners and completing an accurate digital streetlight inventory can easily result in early or on time schedule and under or on budget delivery; and References: For more information on LED scale-ups in parking lighting, visit the LightSavers Canada website at: Photos provided by City of Barrie. April Credit/Contact: LightSavers Canada is a program of the Canadian Urban Institute: 30 St. Patrick Street, 5 th Floor, Toronto, ON M5T 3A Replacing legacy high-pressure sodium (HPS) streetlights with LED technology has strong economic benefits. 6