As part of the inaugural contest presented by ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability at the National Workshop in Fayetteville, Arkansas, the City of Ann Arbor took home top honors for their exceptional design and implementation of energy-efficient white LED street lighting. Ann Arbor received $1,000 and the opportunity to present at the Sundance Summit: A Mayor’s Gathering on Climate Change in September. “We’re honored to receive this award and to be recognized for the hard work and positive results of our LED street lights project,” said Dave Konkle, Energy Coordinator in Ann Arbor who attended the workshop. “This was a remarkable team effort, from Mayor Heiftje to our lighting expert Mike Bergren.”

The city was honored for its plans to switch the downtown street lights to LED lights, which use just a fraction of the electricity, in the next few years and is considering expanding the program across the city. The cost of the change will be paid back in energy cost savings within less than 5 years. A recent study by city officials in Ann Arbor found that about 25 percent of its energy budget was spent on traffic signals and streets lights, and of that almost all of it was due to street lighting.

Ann Arbor had tough competition from other entries, including: Chapel Hill, NC (Fare-Free Bus Transit), Chattanooga, TN (Green Asphalt), Florida Keys (Regional Network)

August 6, 2007 Summary (28k PDF)
Summary of ICLEI’s Inaugural Climate Innovation Invitational

July 13, 2007 Press Release (12k PDF)
Ann Arbor Wins Climate Innovation Invitational

July 13, 2007 News Coverage (68k PDF)
City wins award for efficient lighting

Local governments that have implemented innovative climate action programs in their community were eligible to enter. By sharing their programs, plans, policies, and best practices, we hoped to facilitate dialogue and make it easier for others to implement green practices. The Climate Innovation Invitational, brought to you by ICLEI—Local Governments for Sustainability, U.S.A, is a contest designed to gather and bring innovative climate protection ideas to others. By working together, we can solve global warming.

Enterants were required to send an e-mail to Michelle Wyman, Executive Director, ICLEI, USA (michelle.wyman@iclei.org) by July 6, 2007 with contact information, a 100 word biography on the project author, description of the program, the results (or progress to date), and any other supporting materials. Materials could be in the form of documents, photographs, web sites, or video files, etc.

During the “Saving Energy and Saving Money” Workshop in Fayetteville, competitors had an opportunity to showcase their work to locally-elected city and county officials, policy leaders and their staff. The winner of the Climate Innovation Invitational will receive:

On the evening July 12 we announced the winner of the first Climate Oscars - at an evening reception and dinner. The grand prize winner received a $1,000 cash prize, an award, peer recognition, and media coverage. They were also invited to present at the Sundance Summit – A Mayors’ Gathering on Climate Protection taking place this September 9 – 11, 2007 in Sundance, Utah.