When you come across a dark country road, a dark alleyway or an unlit driveway, your defense instincts kick in and it can be unsettling. Whether walking or driving, we all take comfort in a little bit of light to reveal our surroundings and the reason is simple: light gives us the ability to see where we’re going and, therefore, provides us a sense of safety and control. This is why street lights make such a big difference to our nighttime driving and walking experience, and when a street light is burnt out, you notice.
With all the technology advancements in the last hundred years, lighting has evolved greatly. While incandescent bulbs used to be one of the only options, the introduction and advancement of LED lighting now provides us hundreds of options, with a variety of colour options, intensities and uses. If variety wasn’t enough, it’s the reduced cost, energy efficiency and longevity of LEDs that really makes them stand out, making them a popular choice to illuminate homes and businesses. In fact, the adoption of LED light bulbs in Canadian homes has increased at an impressive rate from 7% in 2009 to 50% in 2017. We seem to have made the switch in our homes, but are we as quick to adopt the same technology for our roads, pathways and communities?
Envari is helping municipalities transition in order to help reduce consumption rates and electricity costs. In Ottawa, city streets have been undergoing a significant change, with over 43,000 streetlights converted to dimmable LEDs since 2016. You can read more about that project here, or by clicking the article link in the newsletter. There was also a great article in Le Droit.
Leading this LED conversion project is our very own Guy Brunet. Guy has had a busy quarter and was recently profiled by Lighting Design & Specification to share about his career background in the lighting and energy sector and how it has helped inform this project. He is happy to report that the project is currently on-time, on budget and is achieving greater energy savings than initially projected. To read more on this, check out his article here.
With the project reaching a near 75 per cent completion mark for converting the City of Ottawa’s streetlights, we’re sure to see the right amount of light at the right time throughout the remainder of these summer nights, and for many more seasons to come!
Looking to convert your lighting infrastructure to LED? Reach out to Envari to discuss your lighting needs.
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