Sustainable infrastructure development: Assessing LED street lighting as a tool for sustainable development in Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil

Abstract

This research project investigates LED street lights as a tool for sustainable development in São José dos Campos, Brazil. The project explores the energy and maintenance impacts of using LED in the place of conventional street lights by assessing the LED street light retrofit projects of eighteen case study cities. These case studies are also analyzed for the secondary impacts of LED street lights resulting from a new light source. Using an example LED street light (Lumi R-Series), projections are made for São José dos Campos on the potential energy and maintenance effects of LED street lights compared to the existing street light network. The final part of the research addresses the local municipal government' s interest of how to implement a street light retrofit project in São José dos Campos while stimulating economic development through the creation of a local LED lighting company. The results show that energy and maintenance expenditures were significantly reduced in each of the eighteen case studies as a result of implementing LEDs. Data also indicated that some secondary benefits were caused by the use of these street lights including reduced criminality, increased road safety, positive public perception and reduced light pollution. The projections for São José dos Campos suggest an energy savings of at least seventy percent and a payback period of just over ten years. Finally, a project implementation strategy, via a build-operate-transfer public-private partnership, is suggested to the city of São José dos Campos as the most feasible method to achieve the city' s development goals and overcome the challenges of such a significant infrastructure improvement project.