Wendel was selected by the Town of Lancaster, New York to provide a guaranteed energy savings contract that included the conversion of 2,650 street lights to new Signify-Philips LED technology. The project scope also included the installation of a Signify-Philips Asset Management System that will enable the Town to modulate light output, monitor light fixture performance and diagnose operational issues.
The Town of Lancaster Supervisor, Ronald Ruffino Sr., said that: “In Lancaster, we are working to invest in our infrastructure and improve the quality of life for our residents. We had been dealing with outages and high bills for many years, and we are now taking control of street light operations for maximum efficiency. That means more savings and better services for our taxpayers.”
Wendel began with an in-house GIS field audit of the Town’s entire street lighting system. This step quantified fixture attributes such as: quantities, style/type, wattage and exact location utilizing GIS coordinates. The GIS database was utilized to identify discrepancies between actual field information and utility billing histories that resulted in a retroactive refund for the Town. An “as-built” GIS database was turned over to the Town at the completion of the project.
Following the GIS audit, Wendel provided design services to appropriately evaluate and select specific fixtures that met the Town’s preferences and industry lighting standards by the Illuminating Engineering Society. Design activities included photometric roadway lighting models in AGi32 software by Wendel’s professional lighting design engineers.
Wendel also provided project management and technical assistance to guide the Town through the local utility’s street lighting purchase agreement (buyback process) in accordance with New York State Public Service Commission regulations and utility company tariffs.
The Town of Lancaster implemented this project through a Guaranteed Energy Savings Performance Contract with Wendel, which included the benefits of full cost transparency, competitive installation pricing, and a project that was managed and designed by industry professionals.
The $2.7M LED street lighting project has a net operational savings every year upon implementation, and results in a net financial savings of over $3M over the next 25 years. The Town received rebates from the local electric utility valued at $88,150 to offset the purchase of new energy efficient fixtures and reduce project implementation costs.
“This has been a win-win project for Lancaster,” Supervisor Ruffino added. “We are upgrading infrastructure to state-of-the-art technology and saving money at the same time.”