NEW YORK, NY--(MARKET WIRE)--Sep 30, 2008 -- Con Edison is supporting the greening of New York City's skyline by introducing state-of-the-art, light-emitting diode (LED) lighting technology atop its company headquarters building. The new environmentally friendly technology will consume less energy while illuminating the night sky.

Source: Con Edison Co. of NY, Inc.
(click to enlarge) The Con Edison Tower.

Con Edison's iconic clock tower on Irving Place and East 14th Street, a fixture of the city's nightscape since 1929, will serve as an example of the new technology's efficiency and luster. The tower has long displayed various color schemes coinciding with holidays and major events using traditional high intensity discharge (HID) lighting. Con Edison also installed similar LED technology at Brooklyn Borough Hall in 2005.

"The new LED lighting is a win-win both for New Yorkers and the skyline we see," said Peter Jacobson, Con Edison's lighting specialist. "When fully lit by the LED fixtures, the new tower light installation uses 63 percent less energy than conventional lighting sources, and the lights will not have to be changed for 15 years, reducing maintenance costs. This state-of-the-art LED system enhances the building at night, while producing fewer carbon emissions."

Jacobson estimated that by implementing this technology in the Con Edison tower, 18.5 tons of annual CO2 emissions will be eliminated, equivalent to taking three vehicles a year off the road.

The 26-story Con Edison building, designed by the architectural firm Warren and Wetmore, has a four-sided tower with four clock faces, Romanesque columns, and four corner urns. The top is crowned by a 38-foot-high bronze lantern, a "Tower of Light," symbolizing the power of energy and memorializing company employees who died in World War I.

The tower is now illuminated with 344 LED-based fixtures. Each fixture is individually programmable and can produce millions of colors and color-changing effects without the need for filters, colored gels, or electro-mechanical equipment.

Con Edison is a subsidiary of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (ED - News), one of the nation's largest investor-owned energy companies, with approximately $13 billion in annual revenues and $30 billion in assets. The utility provides electric, gas and steam service to more than 3 million customers in New York City and Westchester County, New York. For additional financial, operations and customer service information, visit Con Edison's Web site at www.conEd.com.

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