A local company is installing cutting-edge radio-controlled lights in Coolidge Park this week, slashing lighting costs and energy consumption by about 50 percent.
Expand technology like Global Green Lighting’s beyond Coolidge to the rest of the city, and Chattanooga could save $1.5 million annually, according to government officials.
“That may come in time. We’ll have to wait and see,” said Dan Johnson, chief of staff for Mayor Ron Littlefield. “This wasn’t designed to be a test, but it can act as one.”
Global Green Lighting has brought its manufacturing operation to Chattanooga from China to tap into environmentally friendly projects. A large chunk of the funding for these lighting initiatives comes from federal stimulus money, which requires at least half of a product be made domestically. So, the company left China and brought about 80 jobs to the Chattanooga area.
The city decided to upgrade park lighting after a March 19 incident in which shots were fired as police tried to break up a group of about 300 youths.