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Arizona Town Wins Energy
Efficiency Award
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The town of Sahuarita, Arizona, received the Governor's Merit Award for Energy Efficiency in 2005
as a result of installing Light·Structure Green™ at Anamax Park. The Anamax project involved
replacing existing lights on two baseball fields and adding lights to a third field.
The award is given to local governments, educational institutions, state agencies and private sector
businesses in recognition of energy efficiency, conservation and renewable energy projects. “It
was quite an honor,” said Brian DeBreceny, Sahuarita's town parks and facilities manager.
Presentation of the Arizona Governor's Merit Award for Energy Efficiency. Pictured
left to right: ADC Energy Office Director Ken Clark, Sahuarita Parks & Recreation Director
Debbie Summers, Sahuarita Parks & Recreation Commission Chairman Dave Clark, and Governor's Policy
for Regulatory Affairs Lynette Evans
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Project Summary
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PROJECT:
Anamax Park Little League
Baseball® and Softball Field
Sahuarita, Arizona
25-YEAR PROJECTED
ENERGY SAVINGS:
$89,000
ADDITIONAL BENEFITS:
System cuts off-site spill and glare light by 50% for
nearby observatory, Interstate highway and residential neighborhoods
Comprehensive warranty covers routine maintenance costs, including group lamp replacements
Allows on/off schedules to be entered via an easy-to-use web-based
program to reduce energy, labor costs and hassle
Monitoring system detects luminaire outages so that a Musco repair technician can be
proactively dispatched
LIGHTING SYSTEM:
Light·Structure Green™
12 poles · 48 luminaires
Control-Link® Control and
Monitoring System
50/30 constant horizontal footcandles:
2.0:1 uniformity infield
2.5:1 uniformity outfield
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Everyone Wins with Reduced Spill and Glare
Others benefitted from this project as well. Up-light from the old fixtures contributed to light
pollution which could affect the nearby Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory, the largest field installation
of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, “The bright light going into the night sky competed
with the faint light of the stars,” said Dan Brocious, the observatory's public information officer.
“It was quite a hot spot on the horizon. We support any technology that reduces the amount of up-light,
spill and glare, and Anamax Park is a fine example of good lighting control. Lighting design has come a long way,
and the change seen here has been really great.”
Spill and glare was also invasive to residential areas bordering three sides of the park. “The lights used to
spill over onto everything,” said DeBreceny. Light·Structure Green has reduced the amount of spill and
glare by more than 50% from prior technology, and that has generated positive feedback from neighbors
and astronomers who appreciate less illumination. “Several people have mentioned how much they like the
new lights,” said DeBreceny, “You can visually see how much darker the skies are than before.”
The Department of Transportation was affected by prior spill and glare as well, since Interstate 19 bordered one side
of the park. “The excess light became a big safety issue,” said DeBreceny, “The bright light spilling
over distracted driving.” This diversion has been eliminated since the new lights were installed. “All
the atmospheric pollution is gone,” said DeBreceny. “You no longer have to turn your head away from
the fields when driving on I-19.”
Brian DeBreceny himself was nominated for the Governor's Energy Advocate of the Year by the Arizona Department of
Commerce. DeBreceny was recognized for his efforts to conserve natural resources in parks resulting in environmental gains and
tax payer savings.
The biggest winners are the kids. The energy and maintenance savings allow room for programs to grow with the
population without impacting the department's budget. The new lights also allow players to compete under
great lighting conditions. With the previous system, “The direct up-light never did any work on the
field,” said Brocious. “The park's lights had all of the characteristics of bad lighting.
Now you can see it has good quality athletic field lighting with great control and area illumination. It moved
from being on of the worst examples of field lighting to one of the best.”
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“We used to have two lighted fields with 78 fixtures, and
now we have three newly lighted fields with 48 fixtures. That's quite a difference.”
–Brian DeBreceny
Sahuarita Town Parks and Facilities Manager
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More Fields, Fewer Fixtures
“We used to have two lighted fields with 78 fixtures, and now we have three newly lighted fields
with 48 fixtures,” said DeBreceny. “That's quite a difference.” Based on hours of usage, estimated
energy savings over prior technology systems will be more than $89,000 over the next 25 years. “We
absolutely love Light·Structure Green,” said DeBreceny.
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Sahuarita will also save additional maintenance
and operating costs with Musco's comprehensive warranty that covers group lamp replacements, spot maintenance and
controls.
It's Easy Being Green
“The long term energy savings and reduction in staff time is very beneficial,” said
Debreceny. “We are also very happy with Control-Link®. It's nice to have complete control of
our system.” Control-Link helps reduce staff time, cost and hassle by allowing the fields' on/off
schedules to be regulated with an easy-to-use, web-based program.
“In the future, we are specifying these lights for all of our new fields,” said DeBreceny. “They have
made such a difference in the amount of atmospheric pollution emitted, and this system is so user-friendly. I
used to get calls all the time concerning the lights, but since we installed Light·Structure Green, we haven't
had a single problem.” Sahuarita will continue to produce winners with Green technology on future projects. •
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25 Year Energy Cost Savings
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Prior Technology |
126.4 kW
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$221,130
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75.1 kW
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$131,376
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Projected Savings |
51.3 kW
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$89,754
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$.10 per kWh, 700 annual usage hours |
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