LIGHTING ARD’S LEAFNUT SYSTEM
monitoring and control system in 2008 for its street lighting. The council approached Harvard with a view to install a control system that would help them reduce energy, save money, and eliminate the need for frequent maintenance. As a part of its remit, the council also wanted a system in which individual or groups of lights could be specifically dimmed at selected times.
In order to meet Westminster Council’s needs, Harvard installed 80 BranchNodes each managing 256 LeafNodes. The system allowed operators to maintain bright lights in ‘hot spots’ such as main road junctions and in residential areas, with this ability to dim selected lights by 25% in the early hours of the morning, which is barely noticeable to the naked eye. Together with CCTV to monitor light levels, both the client and provider were satisfied that lights could be increased back to full power at a moment’s notice should an accident or emergency occur. Upon finalising the installation of
LeafNut, Westminster City Council was able to confirm the following savings: a total of 1.5 million kg reduction of carbon a year and a saving of £420,000 per year, based on current energy prices. With energy prices likely to increase, the installation is expected to reap further benefits by saving approximately £20 million over the next 20 years. In a financial climate where government funding is scarce and legal pressure to make carbon reductions mounting, the LeafNut system protects against an increasingly uncertain future.
FURTHER LIGHT SAVINGS: A DURHAM CASE STUDY It is not just the capital that has benefited from Harvard’s control technology. More recently a similar solution has been installed in Durham. With 86,000 street lights and illuminated traffic signs to maintain, Durham Council asked Harvard for a system that would cut energy consumption in compliance with the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC). Since street lighting is one of the council’s largest energy costs, it was agreed that the best way to achieve this was by dimming street lights on its main roads during times of low traffic.
Impressed by the potential for
Harvard’s LeafNut technology, the council decided to pilot the system on a 4.5 mile stretch of the
A167.This location was chosen due to its crucial position: the road
often has traffic diverted onto it from the A1 at times of accidents, therefore making it the ideal testing ground for the flexibility of the LeafNut system. The results of the trial were overwhelmingly positive. Lighting levels on the identified section of the A167 were reduced by up to 30% during early hour times of very low traffic volumes, while areas leading onto the A167 were kept at full power.
As a consequence of the trial, Durham County Council now boasts road lighting savings of 100kg of carbon emissions per street light per year. This means that the council could potentially reduce its carbon emissions by over 8 million tonnes and save nearly £4 million in energy costs per year. Together with the additional savings gained by LeafNut’s UMSUG compatibility, that dynamically measures actual consumption rather than unmetered supply, the county is well on track to meeting the Carbon Reduction Commitment targets set in place by the government.
FINANCIAL INCENTIVES AND A LOOK TOWARD THE FUTURE Because of government cuts to the ‘Invest to Save’ scheme (a loan to help fund environmental projects), Harvard has brought out its own scheme named ‘Install to Save’ to help other boroughs achieve the same results seen by Westminster and Durham. Under the scheme, Harvard pays the up-front costs necessary to install LeafNut and the local authority pays back the total amount over 10 to 20 years, depending on specific requirements. This ensures councils can set about reducing emissions, and thus pursue future savings, as soon as possible.
Helping authorities meet government emission targets, while also ensuring liquidity amid wide-scale budget cuts, the company has set the standard for future projects of its kind, and set an environmental example in the face of waning government support.
http://www.harvardeng.com/
PUBLIC SECTOR SUSTAINABILITY • VOLUME 3 ISSUE 5
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