The New York City Department of Design and Construction (DDC) selected Lighting Science Group Corp. (LSG), a developer and integrator of intelligent light-emitting diode (LED) lighting solutions, and the Office for Visual Interaction Inc. (OVI), a global architectural lighting design innovator, to engineer, produce and test the winning design of the City Lights Design Competition. The DDC created this two-stage, international competition to select a new streetlight design for New York City for the 21st century, and OVI was selected for its LED-based streetlight design.

OVI and LSG intend to test the prototypes in spring 2009. The goal is to provide a model for widespread lighting of streets, sidewalks and parks within the city’s five boroughs.

“The long-lasting properties of LED technology enhances security, minimizes maintenance and the energy savings can be considerable as the technology develops. Rather than outdating itself in 20 years, the lighting solution can evolve with technology and improve with age, becoming less costly and consuming less energy over time,” said Jean Sundin, principal, OVI.

When full development of the winning design is completed and that design is determined to have met the project’s standards, New York City intends to add it to the Department of Transportation’s street lighting catalog, continuing its tradition of innovative street lighting that began more than two centuries ago.

There are more than 300,000 streetlights in New York City, the majority of which are based on high-pressure sodium technology. According to OVI, replacing a commonly used 150-watt high-pressure sodium lamp with the proposed LED lighting solution will reduce the energy consumption by 25–30 percent to an estimated 105 watts per LED module.

The winning design developed by OVI combines hi-flux LED technology with state-of-the-art lensing optics in a small oval-shaped profile, which provides the structural framework and heat sink for the LED modules.