Canada's Largest Metropolitan Area to Install LEDs

The Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas (TABIA), a non-profit organization representing the city's 60 Business Improvement Areas and the 25,000 business and property owners within those areas, announced yesterday that Toronto is joining Raleigh, N.C., in a citywide initiative to install LED lighting. The "LED City" program, which was launched in February by Raleigh officials and LED manufacturer Cree Inc., fosters collaboration among municipalities as they install energy-efficient lighting to deliver save money and benefit the environment. TABIA has spent the last four years demonstrating the advantages of LEDs to Toronto citizens and businesses; as a part of the LED City program, the association said Toronto residents should notice LEDs appearing throughout parks, parking garages and in architectural lighting over the coming months. LEDs provide an energy-efficient, mercury-free environmentally friendly solution while delivering more flexible and longer-lasting lighting than traditional technologies. The TABIA announcement comes on the heels of Toronto's May conversion of much of the lighting in the CN Tower -- the city's 1815-ft.-tall communications tower and major tourist attraction -- to LEDs.