As power plants struggle to keep up with the demand of the world’s electricity requirements, it is essential that the biggest consumers of electricity, such as commercial buildings, find various way to reduce their energy consumption and carbon footprint. Retrofitting a skyscraper with energy-efficient LED lighting can seem like a daunting task, but the benefits and savings can certainly outweigh the initial expense. In many cases the ROI for an LED lighting upgrade is less than 3 years and “Green Buildings” can attract the most environmentally conscious tenants.

With lighting being responsible for 35% of energy consumption in buildings, finding ways for building owners to lower operating costs while being environmentally responsible has become a priority.

Solid state LED lighting not only provides better performance than most conventional light sources, it has the added benefits of increased durability and longevity. It also lowers the environmental impact especially when compared to incandescent, halogen, metal halide and fluorescent lighting.

Tenants and building owners looking to become more green friendly have also noticed that by upgrading to LED lighting, not only are they reducing their carbon footprint, they are also lowering operating expenses. Today, there are many tax benefits and rebates being offered by both federal and local governments for building looking to go green. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) even offers incentives to buildings looking improve their energy efficiency.

One example of a skyscraper making the switch to LED lighting is the 47-story Miami Tower in downtown Miami, Florida. The building’s previous exterior lighting system consisted of 382 metal halide fixtures consuming 878,519 kWh annually. To achieve an ever-changing color effect, it required the manual changing of high-maintenance and expensive color gels for each fixture.

LED Source® worked with the team at Philips Color Kinetics to provide a new LED lighting system using the ColorReach Powercore and ColorGraze Powercore fixtures. Using only 216 fixtures, new LED lights have a color palette of 16 million colors and can be changed at the touch of a button.

It is estimated that the Tower will have an annual reduction of 807,688 kWh – a total energy savings of 92%, equivalent to 1.2 million pounds of greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, Jones Lang LaSalle, the building’s owner and Management Company, would subsequently save nearly $260,000 annually in energy, maintenance and operating costs.

Through the use of LED lighting, city skylines are able to reinvent themselves while becoming environmentally conscious. If other skyscrapers around the globe took the same initiative as the Miami Tower, imagine the savings and benefits to the planet that would be achieved from LED lighting.