Intelligent Streetlights to Illuminate Your Way
The Intelligent Streetlights at Sterling Ranch Put Safety First
Electric streetlights have been illuminating roads for over 100 years, but recent advances in technology have profoundly enhanced streetlights’ capabilities to do so much more. Greater efficiency, custom lighting configurations and wayfinding are just a few of the many benefits intelligent streetlights offer. For most communities, these interconnected, night-friendly streetlights are the future, but at Sterling Ranch, we’ve made them a priority in bringing our vision to life.
Energy efficiency at its best
Intelligent streetlights use energy-efficient LED light bulbs. They come on at full illumination at dusk each evening, automatically dimming to 50% at 10 p.m. and turning off automatically at sunrise each morning. These innovative streetlights still carry out the function of helping people feel (and be!) safe, but they are 70–90% more energy efficient than the regular streetlights we are all used to. That is great news for Sterling Ranch residents — they can feel safe and save money, all while reducing the human carbon footprint.
Reduced light pollution
To further our commitment toward embracing our natural surroundings, we chose to join the Dark Sky Initiative, an environmentally friendly campaign to reduce light pollution. Gaining attention and momentum across the country, the initiative promotes the use of light fixtures that cast little (or no) light upward toward the night sky. The benefits of this effort are twofold: Sterling Ranch residents enjoy a clearer view of the stars as well as better functionality of their bodies’ circadian rhythms.
Our light fixtures are officially certified as Dark Sky Compliant, meaning they minimize upward glare, reduce ambient glare and decrease light trespass and skyglow.
Smart City. Smart Homes.
THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT
Emerging technologies
We are in the process of implementing a variety of other streetlight capabilities. Our streetlight system features pole-mounted speakers and has the ability to control LED color-changeable lights — called RGB (Red, Green and Blue) beacons — mounted atop each light pole. This infrastructure can notify residents of emergencies, such as severe weather alerts, by turning the RGB beacons a set color and projecting safety instructions over the speakers.
These emergency notifications are a future capability that will be coordinated with the Douglas County mass notification system, called Code Red. Using this system, we will be able to create custom wayfinding configurations, helping people in our community know where to go and what to do. We are working with Douglas County to activate this functionality. Be on the lookout for upcoming tests of this system.
With these emerging state-of-the-art technologies, the future is looking pretty bright! (See what we did there?)
Watch the video above to learn more about how we’re planning for the future with our intelligent streetlights.
“Working from home, I need access to high-speed Internet. So, having that ultimately coming with the house was really appealing. . . . The one-gig Internet has been one of the most important things to us — not just for work but for everything in our home. We need high speeds to have our TVs on in multiple rooms, have people on the Wi-Fi when they’re over, etc.”
Have you discovered Sterling Ranch yet?
We welcome your visit
If you’ve never been to Sterling Ranch, you may be shocked at the feeling of connection you experience when perusing the natural surroundings, browsing for your dream home, or meeting our Community Ambassadors and your future neighbors. At Sterling Ranch, we are intentionally creating a community where joy resides. Stop by for a visit to find your new home.