The U.S. Capitol dome soon won’t have to worry about other landmarks on the National Mall outshining it.

The Office of the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) on Tuesday announced it was awarding a $671,000 contract to relight the dome with energy-efficient lighting to The Lighting Practice of   Philadelphia.

In recent years, some members of Congress have worried that the dome wasn’t shining quite as brightly as other monuments on the mall, according to a representative of The Lighting Practice.

“They believe the Capitol should be prominent on the Mall and there’s a sense that it should perhaps be a bit brighter than it is today because there’s been some new lighting on some of the other monuments and those monuments may have surpassed the existing lighting on the Capitol,” Helen K. Diemer, vice president of The Lighting Practice, said in an interview.

She mentioned the Jefferson, Lincoln and Washington memorials, which have all received work in recent years. Some of those monuments have also been refitted with more energy-efficient lighting.

The dome’s current lighting, in contrast, is decidedly not energy efficient, according to Dan Beard, ahief administrative officer of the House.

“The dome is currently lit with lighting that is energy inefficient, generates enormous amounts of heat and requires vigilant maintenance,” Beard said. “Modernizing the Dome’s lighting will bring us in line with other landmarks, like the Jefferson Memorial, which has already transitioned to more energy-efficient illumination.”

The Jefferson Memorial experienced an 80 percent reduction in the energy used to illuminate it when it was refitted in 2001 with 12,000 white LED – Light Emitting Diode – lightbulbs, which are constructed to focus the emission of the light. But LED lights may not be the best solution for relighting the Capitol dome, according to Diemer.

“LED is suited to certain types of applications but not necessarily the kind of long throws that we’re going to have to work with to be able to light the dome,” she said. Long throws occur when lights shine on to a building from a distance. For example, the Capitol dome is now illuminated by lights on the House and Senate rooftops that “throw” light from a long distance.

“LED’s work better when you can put them right up close to the building’s surface that you’re trying to light and I’m not so sure that that’s going to be the case here,” Diemer said.

The project is not without controversy. After the winning contract was publicly announced late Tuesday afternoon, Republicans on the House Administration Committee said actual construction costs could be much higher. They also questioned how much energy would be saved. The CAO’s office responded that savings are impossible to determine because the design of the new lighting has not been decided.

House Administration Committee Ranking Member Vernon Ehlers (R-Mich.) “has always been an advocate for projects that achieve greater energy efficiency within the House complex, and that we prioritize such projects based on energy-savings-to-capital-costs ratios,” said Salley Collins, spokeswoman for the committee’s GOP members. “That having been said, $700,000 is a lot of tax dollars for a mere assessment of potential savings.”

So, what kind of new technology is the company planning on using? Diemer wouldn’t say.

“I don’t want to give that away yet,” she said.

The company is planning on using much of the existing lighting fixtures and wiring situated on the House and Senate roofs.

At the same time, it is considering innovations, such as building in controls to dim or brighten the dome depending on the time of night, Diemer said.

While The Lighting Practice, which also designed the lighting for Philadelphia’s City Hall, plans to incorporate new energy-efficient technology that minimizes light pollution, they also plan to keep the design simple and affordable.

“The idea that we want to demonstrate through this project is that other people throughout the country can obtain sustainable design, without spending terrific amounts of money,” Diemer said.

The proposal, expected to be completed in four months, must be approved by House and Senate leadership, the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration and the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

Upon the design’s approval, the Architect of the Capitol is planning to select a contractor to implement the architectural plan. The entire relighting process is expected to be finished in six months according to the CAO.