Cities and Enterprises Can Dynamically Regulate
the Level of Blue Light Outdoors; First Deployed in White Bear
Lake, MN
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Railroad Park, White Bear Lake, MN
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The release reads:
NEW ECHELON CONNECTED LIGHTING SOLUTION
DELIVERS HEALTHIER LED STREETLIGHTING WITHOUT COMPROMISING SAFETY
AND VISIBILITY
Cities and Enterprises Can Dynamically Regulate
the Level of Blue Light Outdoors; First Deployed in White Bear
Lake, MN
Internet of Things pioneer Echelon Corporation (NASDAQ: ELON) is
currently conducting what is believed to be the first successful
deployment of so-called “white tunable” connected streetlighting
with the municipal leaders of White Bear Lake, a suburb of St.
Paul, Minnesota and design firm Short Elliott Hendrickson Inc. The
new Lumewave by Echelon® solution can dynamically regulate the
amount of potentially unhealthy blue light emitted from outdoor
lighting. With this ground-breaking innovation, city managers can
adjust streetlight color from soothing warm yellow to bright
blue-white based on activity levels, time of day, weather and
events. Dimming levels can also be remotely adjusted, making the
system ideal to aid visibility for first responders, security
professionals and more.
“Being the first to try this new technology and see it in action
was very rewarding,” said Mark Burch, Public Works Director/City
Engineer, White Bear Lake. “We could raise the brightness and
select a more vivid hue during an evening event. With a scheduled
scenario, we could shift the lights in that same area to a warmer
hue at 2:00am when there are rarely park visitors, other than our
nocturnal wildlife. We could also program sensors along with the
lights to automatically respond to higher foot traffic or certain
weather conditions for optimal visibility. The new technology could
give us the power to elevate the level of public safety and quality
of life across our entire community.”
This next-generation, connected LED lighting control technology
enables municipalities to realize the full scope of LED
streetlighting benefits, from improved public safety and reduced
energy consumption and reduced maintenance and costs, to better
health, quality of life and environmental comfort. White Bear
Lake’s successful implementation of Echelon’s new technology is an
example of the company’s commitment to foster safer and more
comfortable cities through IoT-enabled connected lighting.
“Municipalities now have the power to create the perfect
environment at any given time,” said Ron Sege, Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer, Echelon. “Imagine the improved public safety if
all of the streetlights in an area were immediately whiter and
brighter when a 911 call was responded to, but otherwise dimmer and
more yellow at night for restful sleep. Cities need not compromise
safety for comfort or vice versa. Our technology is paving the way
for smart cities to improve quality of life, while still achieving
energy efficiency and sustainability goals.”
American Medical Association vs. LED Benefits
The American Medical Association issued a policy statement about
the harmful effects of outdoor high-intensity, LED lighting on
humans and the environment. The guidelines put forth a
recommendation for communities to control blue-rich lighting to
reduce glare and discomfort. The AMA also warns that the blue-rich
LED lights can suppress melatonin, which can negatively impact
human circadian rhythmicity causing poor sleep quality, among other
health concerns. According to the guidelines, outdoor
streetlighting should have a color temperature of no greater than
3000 Kelvin (K) at nighttime.
On the flip side of the issue, lighting researchers and experts
counsel that, if the lights are either too yellow or too dim,
visibility and public safety may be compromised. The Department of
Energy supports the use of LED streetlights because they consume
approximately 50% less energy than the common high-pressure sodium
and metal-halide lamps. They also last longer which has cost-saving
appeal for many municipalities. Each side of the debate has valid
points, forcing city managers to ultimately believe they must make
a choice between health or public safety.
It’s Now Possible to Have All of the Benefits of LEDs
Outdoors
While many municipal leaders and sustainability managers may
feel the pressure to make the right choice, Echelon has engineered
a solution that doesn’t force people to choose one set of LED
streetlight benefits over another. Echelon is the first to give
municipalities the power to adjust the white color and brightness
level - as needed.
In a first-of-its-kind demonstration, the forward-thinking
leaders of White Bear Lake were able to adjust both the light level
and the white color range in its city park lighting. By being able
to tune from warm white (2700 Kelvin) all the way to cool white
(5500 Kelvin), city managers can modify outdoor lighting to enhance
quality of life without compromising visibility or public safety. A
warm white of 2700K was preferred for times with low activity,
while higher color temperature of 4500K was deemed to provide
better visibility for times with higher activity and during public
events.
“There has been a lot of controversy in the industry regarding
the color of light generated by outdoor lighting and the possible
harmful effects it may cause to humans and the surrounding
ecosystems. This issue forces agencies to select the preferred
color temperature before installation of a lighting system,” said
Ken Taillon, Manager of Municipal Lighting Services, Short Elliott
Hendrickson Inc., who led the project engineering. “With Echelon’s
innovative technology, agencies no longer have to choose the color
temperature during the design process. Tuning the color of white
light in conjunction with adjusting the brightness level provides
opportunities we’ve never had before. Lighting systems can now
respond to the dynamic needs associated with providing necessary
public safety while rendering colors and light levels that are more
appropriate for lighting the after-hour nighttime environment.”
Custom color tunable lamps, drivers and controls provide the
capability to easily shift from cool white light to warm white
light, offering endless options for smart cities. For example:
4000K and higher lighting is ideal for:
- Higher levels of activity
- High risk areas such as intersections,
on/off ramps, parking lots and dark alleys
- Emergency scenes and first
responders
- Commercial areas with signage
3000K and lower lighting is ideal for:
- Delicate nighttime illumination
- Historic and residential
neighborhoods
- Natural environments such as forests,
parks and sanctuaries
Echelon’s smart streetlighting infrastructure serves as a
platform that allows smart cities to integrate IoT applications as
needed. Coming together to create this next-generation
infrastructure is Echelon’s new CLP 4000 connected lighting
controller, SmartServer™ 2.2 converged universal gateway and
LumInsight® central management system (CMS). The combined solutions
can set color scenes based on a programmed schedule, sensor inputs
or manual adjustment.
Based on customer interest, Echelon expects to make this new
solution available more broadly in 2017.
About Echelon Corporation
For 25 years Echelon (NASDAQ:ELON) has pioneered the
development of open-standard networking platforms for
connecting, monitoring and controlling devices in commercial and
industrial applications. With more than 110 million devices
installed worldwide, Echelon’s proven, scalable solutions host a
range of applications enabling customers to reduce energy and
operational costs, improve safety and comfort, and create
efficiencies through optimizing physical systems. Echelon is
focusing today on two IoT (Internet of Things) market areas:
Creating smart cities and smart enterprises through connected
outdoor lighting systems, and enabling device makers to bring
connected products to market faster via a range of IoT-optimized
embedded systems. More information about Echelon can be found at
www.echelon.com.
Echelon, the Echelon logo, Lumewave by Echelon, LumInsight, and
SmartServer are trademarks of Echelon Corporation that may be
registered in the United States and other countries. Other product
or service names mentioned herein are the trademarks of their
respective owners.
This press release may contain statements relating to future
plans, events or performance. Such statements may involve risks and
uncertainties, the risk that Echelon's offerings by themselves or
combined with other applications or offerings do not perform as
designed or do not offer the expected benefits and savings; and
other risks identified in Echelon's SEC filings. Actual results,
events and performance may differ materially. Readers are cautioned
not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements,
which speak only as of the date hereof. Echelon undertakes no
obligation to release publicly the result of any revisions to these
forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or
circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of
unanticipated events.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170131005819/en/
Echelon Corp.Lucie Mannlmann@echelon.com
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