Light Up Avondale
The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, the greenest zoo in the country, is working towards making its neighborhood of Avondale one of Cincinnati’s most energy efficient neighborhoods, thanks to a grant from the Duke Class Benefit Fund. The grant, worth $425,000, is allowing the upgrade of lightbulbs to the much more energy efficient, cooler, and safe LED’s in homes, businesses, churches, and non-profits throughout the community as well as finishing up LED upgrades on the Zoo’s campus. The project is called “Light Up Avondale”, and has just wrapped up year one of its two-year timeline. Within this first year, much progress was made.
On campus, we have helped the Zoo convert hundreds of lights to LED because of this project, bringing us closer to our 100% LED goal. In the community, we have conducted lighting audits for 7 non-profits and churches. The lighting audits allow us to learn what the energy footprint of the building currently is, and how upgrading to LEDs can reduce energy consumption and increase financial savings. Every light, every fixture, every room is documented meticulously so we don’t miss anything. As these lighting audits are complete, a comprehensive report and proposal is generated to begin next steps of ordering material and completing the installation. Each of these 7 non-profits and churches should see the upgrades take place within these first two months of the new year, and more non-profits, churches, and businesses will be signed up to participate.
Watch this video and head over to the Cincinnati Zoo's blog to read more.
The story was also featured on WKRC-TV, Channel 12 and WLWT-TV, Channel 5.
