faces of the future - Illuminating Engineering Society

TOOLS + TECHNIQUES
Photo courtesy of Spring City
Technology Takes the Scenic Route
Ambler, PA, is a small town with big-city aspirations. With help from engineering firm Gilmore
and Associates, it recently installed 22 new decorative LED luminaires from Spring City Electrical
Manufacturing along Race Street and joined Cree’s LED City initiative (now the DOE’s Municipal Solid-
State Street Lighting Consortium). Though it had previously used high-pressure sodium lights for
street lighting, the Borough of Ambler decided to move in a new direction after receiving funds from
the county to revitalize its streetscape.
The first order of business was determining how
to make LEDs work for a decorative street-lighting
application. Unlike cobra-head LED streetlights, decorative
LED streetlights are less common. “Decorative
applications are a completely different animal than
cobra-head applications,” says Spring City vice president
of sales and marketing, Chris Rosfelder. “You not
only want to light a street efficiently, you also want to
create the right aesthetic atmosphere.”
Rather than forcing the technology to fit into its
existing fixtures, Spring City modified its luminaires
to meet the needs of the LEDs. The Borough luminaires
installed on Race Street are equipped with
thermal management technology that allows for longer
life of the LED drivers and optical technology that
utilizes a parabolic and elliptical reflector system.
Fitted with 3,000K Cree LEDs, each luminaire uses 74
watts, as opposed to the 150-W power draw of the
HPS fixtures typically used by the borough.
RACE STRET DECORATIVE STREETLIGHTS,
AMBLER, PA
The luminaires also maintain an historic aesthetic
The Challenge: Add LED streetlights without appeal. “The goal was to incorporate LED technology
comprising the historic aesthetic of the streetscape without compromising the aesthetics of our design,”
The Solution: Decorative luminaires with roofmounted
LEDs shield the light source
says Rosfelder. “You don’t want a fixture that looks
like it’s from 1910 or 1920, and then have visible LEDs
that look like Christmas tree lights.” To shield the LEDs from view, they are mounted in the cast roof of
the luminaires. “It’s a semi-cutoff, post-top application that prohibits the viewer from seeing multiple
points of light,” says Rosfelder.
Ambler’s new decorative LED luminaires are expected to save it 60 percent in energy costs and $15
a year per fixture in maintenance costs, for approximately $100 in savings each year.
Elizabeth Hall
38 www.ies.org