Fairview has become the first town in Texas to build a street lit entirely by low-energy LEDs.  There are 82 light-emitting diodes on the newly constructed Fairview Parkway. The LEDs came from EvoLucia, a division of Sunovia Energy Technologies in Sarasota, Florida.

Fairview Mayor Sim Israeloff says the quality of light from the LEDs is better than traditional lighting and they are helping reduce light pollution, by allowing light to be aimed where it’s needed.

The town, population 8,093, has joined the Cree LED City initiative, an international program that promotes the technology.

Other members include Raleigh, North Carolina; Ann Arbor, Michigan; Austin, Texas; Anchorage, Alaska; Tianjian, China; Torraca, Italy; Toronto and Welland, Ontario; Indian Wells, California; Chapel Hill, North Carolina; and Gwangju, South Korea.

The Sunovia fixtures, which use Cree Inc. LEDs, are designed to last a dozen years and use 50 percent less electricity than traditional bulbs.

Israeloff expects the city to save $250,000 on electric bills and maintenance costs over the lifetime of the lights, and cut carbon emissions by 1,000 pounds per year compared to installing conventional street lighting.

Fairview has plans for more LEDs at a new fire station later this year and a new town hall in mid-2010.  It wants to become the most environmentally friendly small town in the big state, with green building ordinances for residential and commercial construction, modern aerobic septic systems, solar-charged storm warning sirens and solar-powered irrigation and vegetation water-filtration systems, officials say.

Sunovia says its LEDs are among the most cost and energy efficient in the world. The company is being advised by renewable energy experts including former Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham and former Under Secretary of Commerce Kenneth I. Juster.