Travis installs LED street lights

  • Published
  • By Merrie Schilter-Lowe
  • 60th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
 

TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – Travis Air Force Base, California, has been awarded $250,000 in energy sustainment and maintenance funds to convert 611 street light fixtures to low-energy consuming light-emitting diode lighting, or LEDs.

The base also has requested an additional $1.3 million to upgrade lights in three hangars, three simulator buildings and two warehouses on base in fiscal year 2019. 

These projects will save about $123,000 a year in electric costs and move the base closer to the Air Force goal of a 2.5 percent energy intensity reduction per year for 10 years, said Joseph Fallon, 60th Civil Engineer Squadron, base energy manager.

  “Our energy intensity for fiscal 2016 and fiscal 2017 combined was 4.4 percent, but we need to get to 5 percent from the fiscal 2015 base year,” said Fallon.  “The goal is to reduce energy intensity by 25 percent by fiscal 2025 so we will keep adding energy-saving projects.”

 Energy intensity is a measure of the energy efficiency of a nation’s economy. Low energy intensity indicates a lower price or cost to convert energy into a gross domestic product.

Installing LED street lights, which are more efficient than incandescent and fluorescent lights, will save Travis about $18,000 annually in electric energy costs. 

 

City Light and Power Company, which is responsible for the base’s electrical infrastructure, began installing the LED fixtures along Travis Avenue and Burgan Boulevard in January and is expected to complete the entire project by August.  

 

Road closures are not expected during the work, but drivers will need to slow down when approaching CLP trucks.   

 

LED lights have the same intensity as the current lights.  However, people will notice the difference in low traffic areas.  Lights previously turned off in these areas to save money now will be turned on, said Fallon.   

 

Not only do LED lights cost less to use, they last longer.   

 

“The LED lights are guaranteed for 10 years but are expected to last 20 years,” said Fallon.  “The current lights last about five years before they need to be replaced.” 

 

The city of Fairfield, California, installed the same type LED lights 11 years ago and report that none have failed. 

 

“We worked with the city to secure the same LED manufacturer,” said Fallon.

 

The base began swapping out incandescent lights for energy efficient fluorescent lights in office buildings and dormitories 20 years ago.  Now that LED lights have been approved for interior and exterior lighting, it will be a game changer, said Fallon.