Beacon Hill resident Anne Mitchell (shown here on left with Jen Hawkins and Meg Bergstrand) recently attended The Steppingstone Foundation’s annual gala dinner at the Charles Hotel. The event raised almost $500,000 for the Boston-based non-profit, including the proceeds from an auction of the Steppingstone Salon – a series of experiences pairing donors with such luminaries as author Ben Mezrich, Sfoglia chef Ron Suhanosky of New York City and Nantucket and Goldman Sachs Vice Chairman John Weinberg. The Steppingstone Foundation is a nonprofit organization that develops and implements programs that prepare urban schoolchildren for educational opportunities that lead to college.

Mayor Thomas M. Menino continued to “green” city operations last week, this time looking to reduce energy usage and greenhouse gas emissions by upgrading streetlights with new LED (light-emitting diode) technology on Boston Common.
The city recently installed LED lights along the “Mayor’s Walk” as part of an effort to showcase the technology and solicit community input. The temporary installation features “acorn” style streetlamps, three each from six different manufacturers and signage along the path explains how to submit comments via CityofBoston.Gov/LED or Twitter “BostonLED". Mayor Menino also announced that the city has joined the national LED City program, an international initiative to deploy and promote energy-efficient LED lighting.
“This is another great example of our boundless creativity in using new, innovative and cutting-edge technology to stretch the dollar of Boston’s residents while helping to preserve our beautiful environment,” Menino said. “Programs like this one continue to make Boston one of the country’s leaders in the use of green technology.”
LED streetlights use less than half of the energy of traditional streetlights while producing better quality light. In addition, LEDs last three to four times longer, saving money on replacement costs and reducing the incidence of unlit streets and sidewalks. Boston operates and maintains more than 67,000 streetlights throughout the city. Much of that light is reflected upward and not directed toward the ground. LED lighting can be “aimed” so as to reduce spillover onto buildings and light pollution into the night sky. Light pollution shines into homes, makes enjoying the stars, planets and astronomical events more difficult and has been shown to disorient migrating birds and waterfowl.
The six different styles of “acorn” fixtures were provided by Lumec Lighting Company, Hadco Lighting, Sternberg Lighting, Osram Sylvania Company, King Luminaire Company and Spring City Electrical Company and will be in place through the end of the year.
“We’re really pleased that LED technology has been coming down in price and going up in terms of quality and the range of applications,” said Bryan Glascock, commissioner of the Boston Environment Department. “In the coming months we’ll be working with the city’s Street Lighting Division to find more opportunities to try out LED technology in our neighborhoods.”
Boston’s streetlights generate 24,000 tons of carbon (eCO2) emissions annually, which accounts for about 8 percent of all municipal emissions. Conversion to LED technology would reduce that by about half. In a program begun nearly ten years ago by the Boston Transportation Department, more than 11,000 traffic signals and 1,800 pedestrian crossing lights were gradually replaced with LEDs. As a result, the city saved nearly $400,000 annually in energy costs. LED traffic signals have also been shown to be more effective as the multiple elements won’t burn out all at once and the light is brighter and more intense, getting the driver’s attention more quickly.
“Once again, Boston is demonstrating how advanced technology can improve service quality, reduce operating costs, and protect our environment,” said Jim Hunt, chief of Environment and Energy for the City of Boston. “Deploying this type of innovative technology further enhances Boston’s reputation as one of the greenest cities in America.”
The city is in the process of identifying sites for temporary installation of “cobra head” style streetlights and expects to again use the Web page and Twitter to solicit comments.
LED City is an expanding partnership of government and industry parties working to evaluate, deploy and promote LED lighting technology across the full range of municipal infrastructure to save energy, protect the environment, reduce maintenance costs and provide better light quality for improved visibility and safety.
The partnership is led by Cree, a leading manufacturer of LED lighting in the United States. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, 22-percent of electricity used in the United States powers lighting. In a world with soaring energy prices based on the availability and control of fossil fuels, and with growing concern about sustainability of the environment, a revolution in lighting is long overdue.

On Wednesday, Rep. Marty Walz (D-Boston) announced the House of Representatives and the Senate approved legislation that would prevent a tax increase for unincorporated condominium associations.
An unintended consequence of last year’s corporate tax reform law, the Act Relative to Tax Fairness and Business Competiveness, is that unincorporated condominium associations are now taxed as corporations rather than as individuals. This requires condominium associations to pay the minimum corporate tax, file more complex tax forms and pay taxes on operating and reserve accounts. To correct this, the legislature included provisions in H. 4359, An Act Establishing Fiscal Stability Measures for Fiscal Year 2010, that return condominium association taxes to what they were previously. The bill makes this change effective for the 2009 tax year, ensuring that condominium associations are not affected even for one year.
“I am pleased that the House of Representatives and Senate acted quickly to prevent a tax increase for many of my constituents,” Walz said. “The 2008 law was intended to close various loopholes and inadvertently increased taxes on condo associations.”
Gov. Deval Patrick approved these provisions on Nov. 24. He proposed the same change to the law earlier this year.

Renaissance Charter Public School's Voices of Renaissance stands ready to perform their legendary three-part harmonies before a full house at Beacon Hill's Church on the Hill last week. The Back Bay-based choir, which has performed at venues throughout the city and before national audiences, was invited to perform by church pastors, Reverends Tina Saxon and Ted Klein.