SEATTLE—October 22, 2007—Seattle Housing Authority embarked on its largest electricity conservation effort to date this month, putting into action an ambitious plan to replace more than 40,000 traditional incandescent light bulbs with more efficient compact fluorescent lights (CFLs).

The Housing Authority will be obtaining the CFLs for use by residents under an agreement with Seattle City Light’s Twist & Save program. Residents living at Yesler Terrace, in Seattle Senior Housing Program buildings or Low Income Public Housing high-rises, or in Scattered Sites units will be receiving CFLs for free under this program in the coming months.

“Using these compact fluorescent lights will decrease residents’ expenditures for electricity by as much as 20 percent over the life of their CFLs,” said Jonathan Stine of Seattle Housing Authority’s housing operations utilities management. “The typical CFL lasts six to ten times longer than a regular bulb and offers greatly improved efficiency.”

In addition to using 75 percent less energy, CFLs offer other benefits, such as brighter light and better color rendition, compared with the incandescent bulbs they are replacing. Unlike other types of fluorescent lights, the latest generation of CFLs do not flicker, hum or buzz.

The distribution and installation of the first 7,500 CFLs is already underway in the Yesler Terrace community. Because of the high ceilings in many of the homes, installation is being done by Housing Authority staff members at no charge.

Following the work at Yesler Terrace, the light bulb replacement project will extend to Seattle Senior Housing Program buildings, Low Income Public Housing high-rises and the Seattle Housing Authority’s Scattered-Sites units. Residents will receive six new CFLs each, including two for bathroom fixtures, two for dining room fixtures, and two more for use in table or floor lamps.

The CFL replacement project is the first electrical resource conservation effort of this size undertaken by the Housing Authority. It was inspired by the goals of the Seattle Climate Partnership program, a voluntary pact among more than 50 Seattle-area employers to take action to reduce their own emissions, with the goal of meeting or beating the global warming pollution reduction target of the Kyoto Protocol.

“Seattle Housing Authority signed the Seattle Climate Partnership agreement this spring and is now an active partner, as this project demonstrates,” Stine said. “Not only will this project save Housing Authority residents hundreds of thousands of dollars on their electric bills and the initial cost of the CFLs, but it will also prevent more than two million pounds of carbon dioxide from being emitted into our atmosphere.”