This week, a sustainable fairy tale is coming true in Dutch city Eindhoven as they prepare to switch on a new LED lighting system in their city.  On Friday, this gorgeous energy-efficient lighting system will become a reality for the folks of Eindhoven.

This clever lighting system will know to automatically dim when the city is inactive and illuminate when a car, pedestrian or bike goes by. The LED lighting will be managed by computers and will have controls available on each street light so folks can set mood lighting on their own.

While this technology provides a dreamy beautifully lit reality for people of Eindhoven, the focus is really on the fact that lights that automatically shut off on vacant streets means reduced energy consumption.

“Of course, having street lights that automatically switch themselves off when the street is empty further reduces costs and CO2 emissions,” reports the Guardian.

Eindhoven isn’t the first city to switch to energy-efficient lighting

While other cities may not have been quite as creative with the concept of LED lighting systems like Eindhoven, a number of cities all over the world have been transitioning to energy efficiency.

Canada’s Edmonton has been working on a LED Street Lighting Pilot Project since last year. Their switch over from traditional lighting to energy-efficient lighting will allow the city to enjoy lower electrical currents passing through their LEDs, enjoying a longer lifespan on their lights as well as lower maintenance costs and energy savings.

But how do you know when it’s time to change these lights?

“The lifespan of LED Streetlights is determined by its light output compared to its original design specification. Once its brightness decreases by 70%, an LED streetlight is considered to be at the end of its life,” says the City of Edmonton’s website.

New York is transitioning and LA is ready to glow

While New York is currently switching over 250,000 standard street lights to energy-efficient ones (with predicted energy savings of $6 million annually), Los Angeles wrapped up what was the world’s “largest LED street light replacement project” last year.

After converting 141,089 streetlights in its first phase, folks were marveling over the fact that this energy-efficient change will affect the way movies look when filmed on the streets of LA. By the time New York finishes their project, this will affect movies shot there too.

Energy efficiency has never looked so good.

How much energy are the lights from your business consuming? Take our Energy Audit to find out.

 

 

Image credit: Sven Bosman