Como, July 15, 2024 – Emblematic monuments of the state capital, the Como Cathedral (one of the most important architectural complexes in Northern Italy and the third-largest religious building in the region after the Milan Cathedral and the Certosa di Pavia) and the Medieval Walls have been the focus of a significant enhancement project. This initiative, strongly supported by the city’s institutions and carried out by City Green Light, aimed to highlight these historical landmarks.
The Vicenza-based ESCo, the leading private operator of public lighting in Italy, has developed and recently completed an innovative lighting system. This system combines aesthetic quality, cultural heritage enhancement and environmental respect. It aims to offer both the residents and the many tourists visiting the area—one of the favorite destinations of the international jet set—a more beautiful and evocative urban space. The project ensures the area is safe and pleasant to live in, both day and night.
“The renewed lighting of the Medieval Walls and the Cathedral represents an important step in the enhancement of our historical and architectural heritage. Through this intervention, we not only bring new light to two of our city’s symbols but also do so sustainably, achieving an energy saving of over 80%. These interventions are part of a broader plan aimed at making Como an increasingly attractive city for visitors while respecting the environment. Our goal is to continue on this path, enhancing our heritage with innovative and sustainable solutions” declares Alessandro Rapinese, Mayor of Como.
ARCHITECTURAL ENHANCEMENT: CITY GREEN LIGHT’S EXPERIENCE SERVING THE CITY OF COMO
The enhancement through lighting of urban contexts, and particularly the architectural beauties that Italian cities preserve, represents one of City Green Light’s areas of excellence. In fact, just in the past year, they have redeveloped the public lighting systems of important UNESCO sites across Italy, from Matera to Vicenza, to Genoa and the porticoes of Bologna.
“The architectural lighting redevelopment of the Cathedral and the City Walls required special attention, both to best enhance places rich in tradition and to ensure cutting-edge lighting solutions. The selection of lighting fixtures focused on design products with high-quality standards capable of providing both high energy efficiency and visual comfort, thanks to the use of optics that allow for a uniform distribution of light on the Cathedral facades. One of the main objectives of the project was to replace an obsolete and energy-consuming system with a new LED technology system, which is more energy-efficient and capable of delivering a high-quality lighting and chromatic effect” stated Tomaso Naldi, Business Unit Director Northern Italy of City Green Light.
In particular, regarding the lighting redevelopment of the city’s Medieval Walls, which covered the area between Torre Gattoni and Porta Torre and the last stretch of Viale Battisti up to Torre San Vitale, City Green Light replaced the old, damaged, and malfunctioning system with modern installations that support LED technology lighting fixtures. These fixtures are discreet and minimally visible, blending perfectly with the surrounding context. The use of various optics, designed to distribute light beams evenly, enhances the architectural features of the site, creating an evocative atmosphere and ensuring better lighting, and thus greater safety for pedestrians.
In addition, thanks to the RGBW system by Lumeitalia, which allows for a wide range of color reproduction, the new installation is suitable for creating light shows and customized setups aimed at communicating special events and occasions through lighting.
City Green Light’s expertise in enhancing artistic and architectural heritage has also benefited the Como Cathedral. High-power projectors with a wide range of optics, from concentrated beams to diffused ones, have been installed on the buildings adjacent to the cathedral to illuminate it at sunset. Modern LED devices developed by Cariboni have been used to highlight the warm tones of the stone and marble ornaments on the facade, while reducing energy consumption by 80% (from 28 kW to 4.7 kW).
WITH CITY GREEN LIGHT IN COMO, NEARLY 1,300 TONS LESS OF CO₂
The interventions carried out by City Green Light are part of the contract that the city administration has entered into with the ESCo from Vicenza for the management and maintenance of public lighting, including the supply of electricity and energy efficiency through the redevelopment of the entire lighting system (Consip Convention, Luce Service 4, with a duration of nine years). Among the main services included in the management fee are the supply of 100% certified green electricity, the upgrading and regulatory compliance of all traditional light points with LED lamps, shared energy savings, partial remote control of the systems, participation in the Public Energy Living Lab project, maintenance (ordinary and extraordinary), shared ownership of 50% of Energy Efficiency Certificates, and energy management services.
The successful upgrade of fixtures with new LED technology has resulted in the replacement of over 9,400 light points, achieving an annual energy savings of over 75% and reducing CO2 emissions by 1,275 tons per year.
