The "Energy Capital of the World" has made a sustained commitment to become the "Energy Conservation Capital" by turning off the lights on April 24, 2009. LightsOutHouston started in 2008 as a city-wide commitment to energy efficiency by commercial building owners and their tenants. The goal of the program has expanded to establish a sustained reduction in the use non-essential electricity by all buildings throughout the Greater Houston area. Participants are asked to sign a pledge of their commitment to energy conservation.
Security lighting, any obstruction lighting, emergency lighting and lights in occupied offices will remain lit.
When: Friday, April 24, 2009 at 10PM
Where: Houston's Downtown and other areas of Greater Houston
Who: All Class A, B and C office buildings in downtown and all government-owned buildings (excludes hotels, streetlights, etc).
Why:
- To raise awareness among office building operators and tenants to go LIGHTS OUT when the office is not occupied.
- To develop operating procedures, by the property owners and tenants, that change today's lighting habits, including working with janitorial service companies and building security to implement procedures to turn off lights when personnel is not present.
- To establish a sustained reduction in the use of non-essential electricity in commercial buildings. The downtown area has approximately 35 million square feet of office space. It is estimated that by eliminating just 50% of the lights routinely left on overnight and on the weekends, we can save 8.4M KW-Hours annually. That equals to almost $1 million annually. This is enough energy to power more than 600 Houston area homes for a year!
- To change Houstonians' habits at home by also remembering to turn off lights.
If you are interested in participating, please sign the pledge or email lightsout@houston.org.
