LED street lighting roll-out would halve energy use and save Australian councils $100 million each year: IPWEA Roadmap
17 January 2017
IPWEA: The street lighting, smart control
and energy industries have united for the release of a major report on
the future of Australia’s street lighting that demonstrates the massive
economic, environmental and public safety benefits of switching to LED
lighting.
An initiative of the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia
(IPWEA), the Street Lighting and Smart Controls (SLSC) Programme Roadmap
makes 15 recommendations to fast-track Australia’s changeover to LED
street lighting.
IPWEA modelling shows that if every street light in Australia were
changed over to LEDs, the energy used to power those lights and the
greenhouse gas emissions produced would be halved.
With the addition of smart controls – enabling ‘smart city’ functions
such as remote monitoring and lights that adjust light levels at
different times of the night or when they sense motion – this figure
could be as high as 72%.
In Australia, councils spend about $400 million each year on street
lighting. Changing over to smart controlled LEDs would reduce that cost
by 25%.
In addition, international studies have indicated that the high-quality
white light produced by LEDs may have an important role to play in
reducing the fear of crime and in reducing
road accidents.
However, only 10% of street lights in Australia have been changed over
to LEDs, and almost none have been installed with smart controls. Many
street lights still use old mercury vapour
technology, which is both
inefficient and contains the toxic chemical mercury.
IPWEA CEO Robert Fuller says Australia cannot afford to ignore this
opportunity to provide communities with better, safer, cheaper and more
efficient street lighting.
“The international community has overwhelmingly embraced the technology,
placing Australia in a situation where our journey toward LED street
lighting is lagging behind some other countries and regions, including
in India, the UK and the US,” he said.
Mr Fuller said the Roadmap provided a clear pathway to achieving a
large-scale changeover to LED street lighting.
“All of industry, including peak industry associations, have worked
collaboratively with all three tiers of government to produce this
Roadmap,” he said.
“The addition of smart controls will make street lights the backbone of
smart city infrastructure, an innovation that is destined to become
increasingly vital as we strive to meet the demands of our growing
cities.”
The Roadmap has been compiled in consultation and with the support of
the Department of the Environment and Energy as well as major lighting
and smart controls companies. A wide number of parties were consulted
including state and territory governments, the Australian Local
Government Association, Lighting Council Australia, Energy Networks
Australia as well as individual utilities, road authorities, local
governments and more than 30 street lighting technology suppliers.
The Roadmap is supported by the SLSC Portal – a free resource for the
industry with case studies, reference documents, information on upcoming
events and curated news from the street lighting and smart controls
world.
To read the Roadmap and for more information on the SLSC Programme,
visit the portal at www.slsc.org.au
. (external link)
SLSC Council members:
-
Department of the Environment and Energy
E3 – Equipment, Energy, Efficiency -
Australian Local Government Association
-
Energy Networks Australia
-
Lighting Council Australia
-
Philips
-
Current powered by GE
-
Gerard Lighting
-
Cisco
-
Silver Spring Networks
-
Next Energy
-
Strategic Lighting Partners
Technical Advisory Group (TAG) members:
-
Adelaide City Council
-
Aldridge Traffic Systems
-
Brisbane City
-
Citelum
-
City of Darwin
-
City of Sydney
-
City of Ipswich
-
Eaton
-
Electrix
-
Eye Lighting
-
IES
-
Energy Networks
-
Lighting Council New Zealand
-
LGNZ
-
Oak Electronics
-
Orange Tek
-
Pecan Lighting
-
Schreder
-
Southern Sydney Region of Councils (SSROC)
-
Telematics Wireless
-
Telensa
-
Toshiba
-
VRT Systems
Industry feedback on the Roadmap
to date
“I couldn’t find one thing to fault it…. this is an excellent document
that outlines where we are at, the opportunities and challenges.”
Ian Killick, Regional Manager Australia & New Zealand, Current powered
by GE.
“To all those involved I say thank you and congratulations.”
Russell Loane, Managing Director, Eye Lighting Australia Pty Ltd.
“Huge thanks for all work the on our Feasibility Report [providing an
extract from the Roadmap], we understand it has been very well received
within Council of Mayors South East Queensland.”
Clinton Parker, Director Business Solutions, Local Government
Infrastructure Services.
Model specifications and street lighting conference
The next phase in the SLSC Programme is the development of model
specifications and other template documents to assist with procurement
and application for suppliers, councils, road authorities and electrical
distribution utilities.
The goals of the Roadmap will be supported by the 3rd International
Street Lighting + Smart Controls conference, to be held in Brisbane,
March 14 – 17 2017. View the conference website for more details:
www.streetlightingconference.com.au .
--ENDS--
Source: IPWEA - www.ipwea.org
Contact: Robert Fuller | Chief Executive Officer | IPWEA Australasia | M: 0412 526 100
External Links: http://www.slsc.org.au/slsc-programme/slsc-roadmap
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