Book Description

A new roadway lighting demonstration project was initiated in late 2010, which was planned in conjunction with other upgrades to NE Cully Boulevard, a residential collector road in the northeast area of Portland, OR. With the NE Cully Boulevard project, the Portland Bureau of Transportation hoped to demonstrate different light source technologies and different luminaires side-by-side. This report documents the initial performance of six different newly installed luminaires, including three LED products, one induction product, one ceramic metal halide product, and one high-pressure sodium (HPS) product that represented the baseline solution. It includes reported, calculated, and measured performance; evaluates the economic feasibility of each of the alternative luminaires; and documents user feedback collected from a group of local Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) members that toured the site. This report does not contain any long-term performance evaluations or laboratory measurements of luminaire performance. Although not all of the installed products performed equally, the alternative luminaires generally offered higher efficacy, more appropriate luminous intensity distributions, and favorable color quality when compared to the baseline HPS luminaire. However, some products did not provide sufficient illumination to all areas--vehicular drive lanes, bicycle lanes, and sidewalks--or would likely fail to meet design criteria over the life of the installation due to expected depreciation in lumen output. While the overall performance of the alternative luminaires was generally better than the baseline HPS luminaire, cost remains a significant barrier to widespread adoption. Based on the cost of the small quantity of luminaires purchased for this demonstration, the shortest calculated payback period for one of the alternative luminaire types was 17.3 years. The luminaire prices were notably higher than typical prices for currently available luminaires purchased in larger quantities. At prices that are more typical, the payback would be less than 10 years. In addition to the demonstration luminaires, a networked control system was installed for additional evaluation and demonstration purposes. The capability of control system to measure luminaire input power was explored in this study. A more exhaustive demonstration and evaluation of the control system will be the subject of future GATEWAY report(s).