Trees wrapped in LED lights reflecting in a lake.
The US Department of Energy recently awarded $11.5 million to install LED lighting in parks, police stations, airport runways, baseball fields and city buildings to promote energy efficiency.
The LED funding was released Nov. 14 as part of $17.7 million in 61 awards made by the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program to enable local and state governments and tribes to increase efficiency while reducing use energy and emissions.
Projects receiving LED awards are in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Announcing the awards, US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm noted in a press release that the EECBG program “provides localities with the tools needed to increase access to clean energy and strengthen energy resilience through community-led initiatives.”
LED lighting projects across the country
Alaska has been approved for a $77,080 grant to retrofit the North Pole ice rink with LED lighting to achieve greater energy efficiency in the Fairbanks North Star Borough.
Texas will now have two DOE grants for recreation facilities. Officials in Euless received $117,300 to upgrade nearly 400 LED lights at five public baseball fields and one soccer field. Montgomery County received a higher award ($457,580) to replace 150 fixtures with LED lighting at community sports fields there.
Nashville Metropolitan Court.
LED projects were also funded for police facilities, courts and prisons:
- The Nashville Metropolitan Courthouse will get $644,440 in new LED lighting.
- Davis County in Texas will spend $293,610 to install LED lights at the Blackwell Thurman Criminal Justice Center.
- Greeley, Colo., received $158,860 for LED lighting at police headquarters.
- Somerset County, Maine will use a $76,720 grant to install LED lighting to replace fluorescent lights and fixtures in a county courthouse and jail.
- Trumbell, Conn. won a $76,260 award for LED installation in a police station.
- Cass County, ND officials will remove 500 halogen fixtures in favor of $75,660 worth of LED lights at the Cass County Jail Administration Building.
In Tuscaloosa, Ala., officials will spend a $158,340 DOE grant to replace nearly 500 airport and taxiway lights with LED lighting.
New LEDs are coming to city halls in Chicopee, Mass. ($116,600 prize) and Winter Garden, Fla. ($76,560 awarded) for their projects. In a similar effort, a city hall in Hudson, NH will receive $73,526 to add LED lighting, insulation and windows to improve energy use.
Close up of a blue LED light.
Benefits of LED technology
LED lights are advertised as being 90% more energy efficient than conventional incandescent and compact fluorescent lighting.
“Widespread use of LED lighting has a large potential impact on energy savings in the United States,” says the DOE. “By 2035, the majority of lighting installations are expected to use LED technology, and energy savings from LED lighting could exceed 569 terawatt hours per year by 2035, equal to the annual energy output of more than 92 1,000 megawatt power plants.”
LEDs produce directional light after a current of electricity travels through an array of semiconductors (microchips). A heatsink in the lighting absorbs the heat generated.
In contrast, incandescent bulbs need electricity to heat an internal metal filament inside the glass to produce light, which is released in all directions. About 90% of the lamp’s energy is released as heat.
DOE LED notes offer advantages over traditional incandescent lighting. One advantage is that LEDs are cooler and less likely to burn out or burn out. They are also not made of glass and break easily. Since LEDs consume less energy, up to 25 strings of LED lighting can be connected together for greater illumination without overloading electrical wall outlets.
LED street lighting in San Ramon, California.
Human and animal health concerns
“LEDs emit high-intensity optical radiation across the ultraviolet, visible, and infrared spectrum,” Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, a unit of the DOE, noted in a environmental, health and safety assessment.
The assessment discussed potential health issues related to the increased use of UV-emitting, white and very bright LEDs. Although eyes and skin are more likely to be harmed by optical radiation, the lab said traditional LEDs are generally considered safe. LED glare and flickering have the potential to lead to some visual health problems.
The European Commission has looked into health concerns related to LED lighting. Issued a newsletter called “So far, no health risk, the bright future of LED lights.” The evaluation showed that LED lights are safe for humans and was based on a 2018 opinion in a report by the Scientific Committee on Health, Environment and Emerging Risks.
However, the The American Medical Association expressed health concerns about LED lighting in a 2016 press release.
“High-intensity LED lighting designs emit a large amount of blue light that appears white to the naked eye and creates worse nighttime glare than conventional lighting. Discomfort and disability from bright, blue-rich LED lighting can reduce visual acuity and safety, resulting in concerns and creating a hazard on the road. In addition to their impact on drivers, blue LED street lights operate at a wavelength that more adversely suppresses melatonin during the night. White LED bulbs are estimated to have five times more impact on circadian sleep rhythms than conventional street lamps,” the press release said.
The AMA has argued that high-intensity LED lighting is potentially harmful to humans and animals.
“Excessive outdoor lighting disturbs many species that need a dark environment. For example, poorly designed LED lighting disorients some species of birds, insects, turtles and fish, and US national parks have adopted best lighting designs and practices that minimize the effects of light pollution on the environment,” the AMA noted.
Consequently, the AMA issued guidelines adopted by grassroots physicians to strengthen “the AMA’s political stance against light pollution and public awareness of the adverse health and environmental effects of diffuse nighttime lighting.”
More recently, an October 2024 policy forum article in the AMA Journal of Ethics by Dr. Mario E. Motta discussed the connection between LED lighting and outdoor light at night (LAN) that can suppress the human body’s melatonin production.
“There are now voluminous peer-reviewed articles showing a higher risk of hormone-related cancers, such as breast and prostate cancer, with melatonin suppression. A higher risk of thyroid and pancreatic carcinoma associated with LAN has also been reported in the literature,” the article states.
Motta also discussed how some outdoor LED lighting can disrupt normal functioning in nocturnal animals and in nature. “There is now a growing and robust literature documenting the environmental damage caused by excessive external LANs. Birds, insects and mammals are particularly hard hit,” the article notes.
Need for greater awareness of pros and cons
There are many factors to consider when deciding whether to use advanced technology such as LED lighting to improve performance. Saving money is one part of the equation. Others include the types of LED lighting and possible effects on others beyond energy efficiency.