Green Light New York, Inc., is an independent, nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote quality, energy efficient lighting in New York City by creating a center for training, design assistance, educational resources; a venue for mock-ups and display; and a forum for progressive discourse.

Over 20% of New York City’s total building-based energy consumption is used for lighting. Improved lighting design is a potent tool for reducing strain on our electric grid, reducing air pollution coming from power plants, shrinking New York City’s carbon footprint and sharply diminishing the more than $15 billion that New Yorkers pay annually for energy.

Lighting design is changing rapidly. Lighting technology is becoming increasingly efficient, and a revision to the New York State energy code that took effect in April 2008 requires lighting to use considerably less power. The City estimated that the adoption of existing state-of-the-art lighting technologies and improved lighting design could ultimately lead to a 5-8% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. The recently adopted Greener Greater Building Plan laws will now require that all lighting systems in large, non-residential buildings be upgraded to meet the energy code by 2025 (applies to approximately 1.3 billion SF).

However, designing spaces that meet these stringent new codes while maintaining quality is not a trivial challenge. Realizing these benefits will require lighting design specialists, architects, interior designers, and other lighting professionals to be able to upgrade their skills, expand their knowledge base and access the newest cutting edge technologies. Currently, NYC has no independent lighting resource center, and professional training opportunities do not exist at the scale required to create a true impact on our city’s carbon footprint and save billions of dollars in energy costs. Existing training courses and facilities in the NYC area are either not large enough in scope or are affiliated with particular manufacturers.

• Provide classes and training to lighting decision makers
• Provide in-person consultations, as well as print and web-based technical resources
• Provide a venue and displays for lighting equipment and effects
• Provide a forum for progressive discourse

• Provide mock-up space to demonstrate and evaluate lighting design solutions
• Provide facilities to enable designers to study their designs under changing daylight conditions
• Provide lighting expertise to inform policy makers
• Provide technical training and workforce development

High quality, efficient lighting is the most cost-effective way to reduce energy consumption in buildings. Lighting retrofits typically cost less than $3 per square foot, pay for themselves in 18–24 months, and alone could reduce NYC's carbon footprint by a projected 1.5%.

Green Light’s projected impacts on energy and emissions are huge: 218–492 GWh of annual energy savings, 25–58 MW annual peak coincidence demand reduction, and .16 MMT to .35 MMT annual carbon emissions reduction. Over the next fifteen years, GLNY will save a projected 1,743 to 3,716 GWh’s of electricity and reduce NYC’s carbon emissions by approximately 1.3–2.7 Million Metric Tons—the equivalent of 152,000–324,000 homes’ annual CO2 emissions from electricity, or removing 239,000 to 510,000 cars from the road.

Green Light New York is extremely cost-efficient. A recent study concluded that the Total Resource Cost (TRC) Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR) for Green Light New York conservatively ranges between 1.7 and 2.1, meaning that for every dollar invested in GLNY—including the added costs of efficiency improvements—roughly 2 dollars would be returned to the New York economy, for a total projected net benefit to New Yorkers of $81 to $212 million.