WASHINGTON, D.C.

MAY 2024

NLS Lighting, in collaboration with ENGIE North America and Walters Wholesale Electric, proudly supported the successful completion of Washington, D.C.’s large-scale smart streetlighting conversion — one of the most ambitious municipal lighting modernization projects in the United States.

The project involved the retrofit of approximately 75,000 streetlights across the District, replacing legacy HID systems with high-performance LED technology integrated with smart controls. The initiative significantly enhances public safety, reduces energy consumption, and lays the groundwork for future smart city infrastructure.

At the core of the upgrade was NLS Lighting’s SAVANNAH Collection SVN-RK retrofit kit, engineered to deliver consistent photometric performance while preserving the historic character of Washington, D.C.’s post-top streetlight fixtures.

The system was deployed in multiple lumen packages ranging from 4,000 to 10,000 lumens, with 2700K and 3000K color temperature options, allowing precise adaptation to diverse urban environments.

“This project required an exceptional level of flexibility and performance,” said a representative from NLS Lighting. “With more than 15 unique configurations engineered to support varied fixture types and applications, our solution delivered uniform lighting quality while meeting the District’s environmental and operational goals.”

The smart lighting system enables remote monitoring, scheduling, and control, allowing the District to operate and manage its streetlights much like a smart-home system—improving reliability while reducing maintenance costs. Advanced optical design ensures clean cutoff distribution, minimizing uplight and light trespass while supporting sustainability and dark-sky considerations.