Naval Support Activity Annapolis (NSAA) has increased efforts to go green and promote energy efficiency by upgrading exterior lighting systems to LED lights in almost all U.S. Naval Academy buildings and athletic fields as part of the Great Green Fleet (GGF) initiative.

Light-emitting diode, or LED, is a type of solid-state lighting that uses a semiconductor to convert electricity into light. Today's LED bulbs can be 6-7 times more energy efficient than conventional incandescent lights and cut energy use by more than 80 percent.

"Naval Facilities and Engineering Command (NAVFAC) invested $1.07 million to retrofit 609 street lights at both the U.S. Naval Academy (USNA) and North Severn with energy efficient LED lighting," said Jabe Nekula, NSAA public works electrical engineer. "This project substantially improved the appearance and light quality at the USNA and North Severn, while cutting energy usage in half and extending normal service intervals by a factor of four."

LED lights contain no mercury, and a recent Energy Department study determined LEDs have a much smaller environmental impact than incandescent bulbs. They also have an edge over compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) which is expected to grow over the next few years as LED technology continues its steady improvement.

"For the most part, we have increased the lighting level substantially at our sports venues to a level where games can be televised, while reducing cost to provide energy," said Nekula. "In all cases we have improved the quality of the light so it's ideally suited for the task at hand, we have increased the light level, and we have significant reduction of energy usage."

Unlike incandescent bulbs -- which release 90 percent of their energy as heat -- LEDs use energy far more efficiently with little wasted heat.

Nekula explained the upgrade will bring big energy savings to the Navy.

"Energy savings alone are projected to be approximately $285,000 annually, with life expectancy extended from five years to nearly 20 in street lighting only," said Nekula.

In total the Navy will be investing more than $13 million total between street lighting, sports fields and USNA buildings. Saving a projected $16.2 million for a period of 25 years, these savings are in addition to reducing maintenance costs.

"Street lighting has transformed the nighttime appearance of the academy and new dome lighting has brought back to life the striking appearance of the chapel dome after dark," said Nekula. "As the design manager, I consider this work to be the most relevant and personally satisfying I've had the pleasure to execute."

According to the U.S. Department of Energy in 2012, about 49 million LEDs were installed in the U.S. -- saving about $675 million in annual energy costs. Switching entirely to LED lights over the next two decades could save the U.S. $250 billion in energy costs, reduce electricity consumption for lighting by nearly 50 percent and avoid 1.8 billion metric tons of carbon emissions.

GGF is a yearlong, Department of the Navy initiative that demonstrates the sea service's efforts to transform its energy use. As one of the Secretary of the Navy's key energy goals, the purpose of the GGF is to make our Sailors and Marines better warfighters, able to go farther, stay longer and deliver more firepower. Secretary Ray Mabus chose the name Great Green Fleet to honor President Theodore Roosevelt's Great White Fleet, which helped usher in America as a global power on the world stage at the beginning of the 20th Century. The GGF will usher in the next era of Department of Navy energy innovation.

For more information and tips about energy, visit http://energy.gov/.

For more information about the GGF initiative, visit http://greenfleet.dodlive.mil/energy/great-green-fleet/.

For more information, visit http://www.navy.mil/, http://www.facebook.com/usnavy/, or http://www.twitter.com/usnavy/.

For more news from Naval District Washington, visit http://www.navy.mil/ or http://www.cnic.navy.mil/regions/ndw.html/.