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Lights Out Houston


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Beginning April 25th, 2008, 1100 Louisiana will be participating in Lights Out Houston, a program aimed at reducing wasteful electricity consumption. This program will begin at 10:00 p.m. on April 25th and run through the weekend, bringing Earth Week to a close.

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That's nothing short of swell, but what is it they hope to accomplish by cutting back lights at night for part of "Earth Week"? If they are concerned about reducing energy usage, why not make it a full time, permanent thing. I'm not sure I see the point here.

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Another memo says they strive to keep this going on long term. It came in .pdf and I can't cut and paste it.

Every employee in 1100 got a letter they can sign and commit. Hines only has so much control over the tennants leased space.

Do you want someone to turn your light off when you work late?

But I signed one and turned it in today!

Buh-bye beautiful nightscape.

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That's nothing short of swell, but what is it they hope to accomplish by cutting back lights at night for part of "Earth Week"? If they are concerned about reducing energy usage, why not make it a full time, permanent thing. I'm not sure I see the point here.

I believe that this is the second time I've posted this link. I'm sure it won't be the last.

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We have motion sensors, too. And the cleaning crews are always here late.

The only thing we have to request from facilities is A/C.

But when I do work late downtown always looks lovely all lit up. Can't we just use some Al Gore lightbulbs to keep things shining?

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That's nothing short of swell, but what is it they hope to accomplish by cutting back lights at night for part of "Earth Week"? If they are concerned about reducing energy usage, why not make it a full time, permanent thing. I'm not sure I see the point here.

I agree with you. I suppose public safety is an issue with how cities burn lights all night, but wonder if they could turn them down some. That would also be a big savings.

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I believe that this is the second time I've posted this link. I'm sure it won't be the last.

Hi, My name is Andy Bergman and I am one of the participating organizers for the Lights Out Houston event. I have read some of the comments on this posting referring to Lights Out Houston as a "one-time event". I can tell you that the property owners of the 200+ buildings and 100 Million SF of space that have pledged to this program do not think so. We started this initiative with the hope that we can change behaviors and procedures for building owners, tenants, and service companies. Clearly, anyone who has driven around town on a Saturday or Sunday evening realizes that there is much work that needs to be done regarding the conservation of energy in buildings due to lighting. The savings analyis that we performed (which is contained on our website - www.lightsouthouston.com) is a very conservative estimate and is based on only reducing non-essential lighting in participating buildings by 50%, not 100%. Furthermore, each pledging company clearly understands that this is not a "one-time event" but is meant to be an on-going program designed to change behaviors and reduce energy for the long-term.

This is analagous to dieting or quiting smoking. It requires behavioral change - we know that by participating in Lights Out Houston each building may not be able to sustain this initiative. But what if just 50% of the pledging 100 Million SF of buildings do? It will result in an annual savings of over $2 Million dollars in energy cost to building owners and their tenants. This is a big number! We are not representing this as a "silver bullet" to eliminate climate change but one small step of the millions of things that all citizens need to be doing.

I would encourage posters that are indeed interested in energy conservation to get involved in a positive way and help spread the word and make suggestions to improve lighting efficiency. One post I read said that during off hours, each time the timer is reset the lights stay on for another hour. Why not make a suggestion for this timer to be web-based whereby the user could control this from their PC? There are millions of ways we could all get involved in suggesting improvements to the facility managers and owners/operators. Sincerely, Andy

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I have no problem with turning lights out that are not needed. However, I agree with the lady who was interviewed by channel 2 on friday night, the lights that define a skyline are part of the city, and that is what is recognizable. Therefore, having the lights on that make the building visible from a distance need to remain on, and the inner lights that aren't visible can be turned off. the last thing i want to see is a "black" skyline.

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I have no problem with turning lights out that are not needed. However, I agree with the lady who was interviewed by channel 2 on friday night, the lights that define a skyline are part of the city, and that is what is recognizable. Therefore, having the lights on that make the building visible from a distance need to remain on, and the inner lights that aren't visible can be turned off. the last thing i want to see is a "black" skyline.

May I ask how much you are willing to contribute to fund this "need"?

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fund what??

turning out these lights is the most ridiculous thing. plenty of other items that need to be addressed in this city rather than sit here and debate whether or not to turn the lights on or off.

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fund what??

turning out these lights is the most ridiculous thing. plenty of other items that need to be addressed in this city rather than sit here and debate whether or not to turn the lights on or off.

Saving energy, and therefore, money, does not strike me as ridiculous at all. If I were the owner of a downtown building, and I saw the savings to be realized from turning out unused lights for 10 to 12 hours per night, that place would go dark in an instant. The fact that some city residents, who are not tenants and are not paying my bills, do not like it, means nothing. As a building owner, my response would be, "if the city is willing to pay the added expense of keeping my lights on, they'll stay on." Otherwise, my lights would go off.

By the way, to illustrate the ridiculousness of leaving office lights on all night, the Department of Energy estimates that 30% of a building's energy costs go to lighting.

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I have no problem with turning lights out that are not needed. However, I agree with the lady who was interviewed by channel 2 on friday night, the lights that define a skyline are part of the city, and that is what is recognizable. Therefore, having the lights on that make the building visible from a distance need to remain on, and the inner lights that aren't visible can be turned off. the last thing i want to see is a "black" skyline.

We should have a "Lights On Houston" night once a year. Everyone who likes the pretty lights will take a picture on that night. The rest of the year the lights are off. When you want to see the pretty skyline that defines our city, look at the picture.

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We should have a "Lights On Houston" night once a year. Everyone who likes the pretty lights will take a picture on that night. The rest of the year the lights are off. When you want to see the pretty skyline that defines our city, look at the picture.

Oh, what fun! Maybe we could hold Lights On Houston Day in conjunction with Go Texan Day, when all male Texans put on jeans, boots and hats, and pull their Ford F350s out of the garage for a day of spinning tires, jackrabbit starts and driving 80 on the freeway, before putting them back in the garage in favor of their Priuses and Civics.

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I have no problem with turning lights out that are not needed. However, I agree with the lady who was interviewed by channel 2 on friday night, the lights that define a skyline are part of the city, and that is what is recognizable. Therefore, having the lights on that make the building visible from a distance need to remain on, and the inner lights that aren't visible can be turned off. the last thing i want to see is a "black" skyline.

Firstly, I'd like to pre-emptively distance myself from RedScare, especially after that last comment. He needs to cool it with the stereotyping.

But I drove by the dark skyline late at night this weekend and thought that it actually looked really cool being mostly dark. It's the difference between the person that dresses in such a way as that they beg you to look at them and the person that just doesn't care what you think. Who is more likeable and attractive? To me, the more attractive is the one that doesn't need you to look.

For the record, I don't care about how energy efficient these buildings are. If the owners want to swallow the costs, or whatever, that's none of my business and I could care less. My observations and opinion is purely aesthetic in scope.

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Wow, more advice from Niche! Thanks, Niche, but two things to note. One, I am not running for political office, so therefore have no need to "cool it" with the stereotyping. Secondly, my previous post was a form of humor called "sarcasm". When engaging in "sarcasm", not only is stereotyping acceptable, it tends to make the object of the humor even more amusing.

Humor is funny stuff. You should try it sometime. In fact, maybe you could take a class at UH on this subject. God knows, you need one.

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Wow, more advice from Niche! Thanks, Niche, but two things to note. One, I am not running for political office, so therefore have no need to "cool it" with the stereotyping. Secondly, my previous post was a form of humor called "sarcasm". When engaging in "sarcasm", not only is stereotyping acceptable, it tends to make the object of the humor even more amusing.

Humor is funny stuff. You should try it sometime. In fact, maybe you could take a class at UH on this subject. God knows, you need one.

No, in all seriousness, it wasn't funny. A joke doesn't have to be perfectly plausible to be funny, but there's a point beyond which it forsakes funny for silly. Mentioning the Priuses and Civics did it for you. It also threw off the rhythm of your delivery.

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Beginning April 25th, 2008, 1100 Louisiana will be participating in Lights Out Houston, a program aimed at reducing wasteful electricity consumption. This program will begin at 10:00 p.m. on April 25th and run through the weekend, bringing Earth Week to a close.

Driving home from work at 5:30 am Sunday morning... Downtown looked really dark... was weird to see.

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No, in all seriousness, it wasn't funny. A joke doesn't have to be perfectly plausible to be funny, but there's a point beyond which it forsakes funny for silly. Mentioning the Priuses and Civics did it for you. It also threw off the rhythm of your delivery.

RedScare! You're being offered free advice on humor from TheNiche!

What's next...elecution lessons from George W. Bush?

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