The City of San Leandro has been selected to receive a Smart 50 Energy Award from Smart Cities Connect for their Wireless IoT Connectivity Platform. The city will be honored at an awards gala taking place during the Smart Cities Connect Conference and Expo in Kansas City, Missouri on March 26, 2018.
The Smart 50 Awards, in partnership with Smart Cities Connect, Smart Cities Connect Foundation, and US Ignite, annually recognize global smart cities projects, honoring the most innovative and influential work. This year, primary categories included governance, mobility, energy, citizen life, and networks.
The City of San Leandro has gained a reputation as a leader in smart city efforts through innovation and partnerships, most notably with industry leader Climatec. Through this partnership, various innovative technologies have been implemented throughout the City via the Wireless IoT Connectivity Platform, including LED streetlights, wireless mesh control networks, and smart building technologies.
In early 2016, the San Leandro City Council selected Climatec to install $5.2 million in energy and water saving equipment at numerous public facilities across the City. Climatec was chosen because its guaranteed savings will cover 100% of the costs of the improvements and related debt service.
“San Leandro has been consistently pushing to implement smart city technologies, rather than just talking about being a smart city. The City Council is fully supportive of these efforts, we have city staff dedicated to the work, and we have partnered at key points with the private sector to bring projects to life,” said San Leandro Mayor Pauline Russo Cutter. “Our goal is to reduce energy costs, attract more businesses, and make life better for our residents. With the help of our partners like Climatec, we are positioned to continue our leadership position in smart city technologies.”
The Wireless IoT Connectivity platform’s immediate benefit is a significant reduction of energy costs, improved lighting, centralized monitoring of street lights and generation of significant data. From a single screen, the City has the ability to respond quickly to residential or business lighting needs. This also creates additional public safety benefits.
Additionally, the project has deployed connected technologies that will transform the future delivery of many other city services such as transportation, garbage cans and parking). San Leandro’s Smart City Platform provides a flexible and open platform for integration of technologies, systems and services, connecting data from different technologies and systems into one unit and offering well-arranged tracking of outputs and their effective supervision.
“The Internet of Things is only made possible by connecting devices to a network, that is why it is critical to implement foundational technologies upon which the smart systems can run,” said Tyler Girtman, Regional Manager for Climatec. “The team at San Leandro have pushed hard on technology enablement and Climatec’s work has not only delivered environmentally-friendly solutions, but it was achieved with no cost to the City’s General Fund and accomplished on time.”
The City expects to save $8 million over 15 years through strategic reductions in energy and water usage, while realizing over $1.5 million in positive cash flow over that same period of time. In addition to the financial benefits, San Leandro’s investments in clean infrastructure will reduce the City’s greenhouse gas emissions by 1,390 metric tons annually, the equivalent of 3.3 million miles driven in a year.
