5th Street Parking Ramp Re-LightingMasterpiece on the Mississippi
TO: The Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
SUBJECT: 5 Street Parking Ramp Re- Lighting
DATE: April 14, 2011
Dubuque
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Parking Division Supervisor Tim Horsfield is transmitting information on the retro fitting
of the lighting in the 5 Street Ramp.
This past winter, the Parking Division installed a new fluorescent lighting system in the
5 Street Parking Ramp. The system installed is referred to as LIMELIGHT or
TwistHDM. It is anticipated that the City will see approximately 68% savings in the
lighting cost of operating the ramp.
As a result of this lighting project, Alliant Energy will incent the City of Dubuque with a
one -time rebate check in the amount of $15,896.18. Using information provided by
Alliant and TwistHDM, the City anticipates a return on investment in the range of about
6 -7 years on this project. Alliant is anticipating an actual annual savings of $11,000.00.
The Parking Division has now completed installation of this system in the Locust Street
Ramp and will be conducting this same sort of evaluation for that installation. The same
system is being installed in the new ramp under construction at 975 Central and will be
installed in the Iowa Street Ramp as part of the recently approved FY 2012 Budget.
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Micl4ael C. Van Milligen
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Attachment
cc: Barry Lindahl, City Attorney
Cindy Steinhauser, Assistant City Manager
Tim Horsfield, Parking Division Supervisor
Masterpiece on the Mississippi
April 5, 2011
Dubuque
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2007
To: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
From: Tim Horsfield, Parking Division Supervisor
Subject: 5 Street Parking Ramp Re- Lighting
Parking Division
830 Bluff Street
Dubuque, IA 52001
563 - 589.4267
www.cityofdubuque.org/parking
Introduction
The purpose of this memo is to provide you with information that has been compiled following
the retro fitting of the lighting in the 5 Street Ramp.
Background
This past winter, the Parking Division installed a new fluorescent lighting system in the 5th
Street Parking Ramp. The system installed is referred to as LIMELIGHT or TwistHDM. One
of the main reasons for going with this system was the ability to do several sustainable
functions with existing electrical wiring in this ramp. The existing wiring design was
compromised when an addition to this ramp was completed in 2000. Because of this, the
circuiting of lighting was such that the creation of time zones and daylight harvesting was
impossible to achieve without expensive rewiring and engineering.
This system operates on a web -based protocol and is completely programmable from any
internet accessible computer. The fixtures are a fluorescent T -8 fixture with 3 fluorescent
tubes in each. So, each fixture can operate on low (one bulb), medium (two bulbs) or high
(three bulbs). The lighting function can be controlled by several different forms of activation;
those being daylight harvesting, motion sensing and finally time zone controlled. The system
so flexible, that you can have motion sensed in any area and turn on lights anywhere in the
entire ramp. Additionally, the system sends the maintenance staff an e-mail whenever a bulb
burns out, ballast malfunctions or there is vandalism and the exact fixture location and
number is identified in the e-mail. This is a huge safety feature preventing unlit areas to go
unnoticed.
When we began the information gathering part of this process, LIMELIGHT indicated that we
should see a significant reduction, up to 70 %, in our lighting costs. This past week, in
partnership with Craig Clefisch from Alliant Energy, Alliant Energy came to the ramp, hooked
up their computer system to the ramp's main meter and then working with LIMELIGHT, we
cycled the lights through completely off, low, medium and high statuses. During all of those
phases, we were monitoring the kilowatt hours on the Alliant computers.
5 Street Parking Ramp Re- Lighting
April 5, 2011
Page II
What was determined was this. It is anticipated that we will see approximately 68% savings
in the lighting cost of operating the ramp. Now this percentage excluded other lighting,
heating and elevator operations. So a total reduction in the electrical operating cost of the
ramp is estimated at 57 %. We have an annual electrical usage budget for this ramp nearing
$20,000. Alliant and LIMELIGHT are figuring that this will come in substantially higher once
we have a chance to evaluate the usage during longer daylight periods this summer. The
installation cost for the entire project was just over $92,000 minus the rebate, the net cost is
$76,100.
Some interesting information:
• 234,000 Annual kilowatt hours saved due to this project
• 33 Tons of CO2 reduction
• 24 Cars taken off the road
• 875 Trees saved
This information was provided by Craig Clefisch from Alliant Energy.
Finally, as a result of this lighting project, Alliant Energy will incent the City of Dubuque with a
one -time rebate check in the amount of $15,896.18. Using information provided by Alliant
and TwistHDM, we anticipate a return on investment in the range of about 6 -7 years on this
project. Alliant is anticipating an actual annual savings of $11,000.00. The payback time is a
bit higher than what was represented in a previous memo.
We have now completed installation of this system in the Locust Street Ramp and will be
conducting this same sort of evaluation for that installation. Also, as you know, we will be
installing the same system in the new ramp under construction at 975 Central and we also
will be installing this same system in the Iowa Street as part of the recently approved FY
2012 Budget.
I will continue to provide you with similar information on the other facilities as they become
available but I did want to get this information on to you as this is really a fantastic opportunity
to highlight the City's efforts towards sustainability.
In closing, Mr. Clefisch from Alliant did offer his time if anyone from the City including any City
Council members that would care to discuss this partnership opportunity with him.
If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me at your convenience.
Cc: Dave Heiar, Economic Development Director
Cori Burbach, Sustainability Coordinator