The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Municipal Solid-State Street Lighting Consortium has published guidance for local governments, utilities, and other local agencies interested in saving money and energy by converting their street and roadway lighting to LED technology. The Model Specification for LED Roadway Luminaires is designed specifically for LED luminaires, which, in addition to saving energy, has the expected benefit of reducing maintenance costs while improving visibility.

Developed by consortium members, with feedback from a manufacturers' working group, the specification is available with user-selectable options to accommodate the different preferences commonly found between local governments and utilities. The specification's flexible format also allows users to modify default values to fit their local design criteria.

Consortium members and nonmembers will be able to use the specification to put together effective bid documents for LED street lighting products. It also will help guide the industry and provide a common basis for manufacturers to design products that meet their customers' needs. Available for download at www.ssl.energy.gov/specification.html, this living document will be updated as needed to reflect user feedback and changes in this rapidly evolving industry.

DOE will also host a 90-minute live webcast on November 15 at 1:00 p.m. ET (10:00 a.m. PT) to provide an overview of the model specification and how to use it. Moderated by Consortium Director Edward Smalley of Seattle City Light, the webcast will include a 60-minute presentation by Jason Tuenge of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, followed by a 30-minute question-and-answer session with attendees.

For more information on the webcast, visit the Registration page. To learn more about the consortium, visit www.ssl.energy.gov/consortium.html.