It is a fairly well known fact that LED lighting can provide a significant energy reduction as well as financial savings for many commercial businesses across the nation but, recently a Fort Knox neighborhood has announced they will achieve a 90 percent energy reduction by replacing their existing residential lighting with NEW energy efficient LED light bulbs. The massive residential LED retrofit will replace more than 9,500 lamps with state of the art LED bulbs. Officials kicked off the massive lighting project with a lighting ceremony on September 5th. A recent press release states that the project will be completed in October 2012 and the Knox Hills neighborhood will be the largest residential LED retrofit-installed community in the world. In recent tests performed by Consumer Reports, they have announced that LED light bulbs have several advantages as compared to traditional incandescent and Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFL).

In recent years, the U.S. Army has been on a major effort to save energy at the Kentucky base that has been undergoing a major transformation. Read the Lane Report... In all, more than 9,500 LED bulbs will be put in, and will represent a 90-percent reduction in energy consumption versus conventional bulbs, with each bulb lasting approximately 22 years, according to a spokesman. The LED bulbs are also said to be somewhat more efficient that compact fluorescent bulbs and the contain no mercury. The Fort Knox project, which will reduce annual energy costs by $34,000, and more than $859,000 over the life of the LED bulbs, will conserve approximately 2.6 million kWh worth of light energy, the equivalent of planting 547 acres of trees. The LED lighting project will play an important role in the energy efficiency and sustainability program being implemented in the Fort Knox area. By Scott Glidden