BALTIMORE, MARYLAND December 18, 2015 – During the month of December you may notice that the lights on the Baltimore City Hall dome are off. When the lights are turned back on, just after the New Year, the dome will boast new light emitting diode (LED) bulbs. The City Hall dome is undergoing a lighting project which involves switching from 1,000 watt metal halide conventional lighting technology to the LED lights that are only 220 watts per fixture. The annual savings from this project is more than $40,000 and will have a payback of less than 2 years.

The electricity saving are anticipated to be $12,000 per year alone. The project will have drastically lower operations and maintenance costs – the lights have more than a 6 times longer lifetime and eliminate the manual changing of color gels – an arduous and expensive endeavor.

The project involves installation of 48 lights to replace existing dome lighting and installation of a lighting control system. With this system, the Department of General Services will be able to change the light color remotely. These lights are used to celebrate holidays, raise awareness, and cheer on our sports teams.

Over the next week the Baltimore City Hall dome will have its lights replaced with the energy efficient fixtures. Electricians are preparing to make the penetration through the roof and start the exterior wiring. They will remove and replace each bank of lights one at a time. There will be a period when all of the lights will be out.

This project is funded by a Maryland Energy Administration’s Smart Energy Community grant. Managed by the Department of Public Works, Office of Sustainable Energy, Baltimore has leveraged multiple grants from this program to implement energy conservation methods across the City. The 2014 grant directly contributed to the installation of 63 upgrades in 54 City buildings. The 2015 grant includes the retro-commissioning of the Benton municipal building, Oliver Multipurpose Center and the Orleans Street Library, leasing of electric vehicles to pilot the efficacy of their use in City government, and the testing of LED technology for exterior lighting and parks.
This is a joint project of the Department of Public Works and the Department of General Services. The Department of General Services is committed to providing healthy work environments and safe reliable vehicles for City employees by delivering high quality and cost-effective support services to City agencies who serve Baltimore’s citizens and stakeholders. The Department of Public Works supports the health, environment and economy of our City and the region by providing customers with safe drinking water and keeping neighborhoods and waterways clean.