Saving Energy through Lighting

A study by the Office of the Mayor of London a few years back showed that 26% of emissions were traced back to a lighting source in London—both commercial and public sectors. Not many people realise how much junk we are putting into our environment for unnecessary light. UK lighting consumes around 58,000 GWh a year.

Even the commercial buildings that do have lighting controls installed—about 40%—are not making savings due to poor installation or bad design. You constantly see lights left on when offices and shops are closed all across London. Lights either don’t switch off or are left on throughout the night.

What commercial property owners must take into account is the long-term benefit on both savings and the environment. Don’t jump onto the cheapest lighting control systems thinking that they will give you the best savings. A potential 30,000 GWh could be saved if all UK commercial lights were controlled properly. This is a positive step that the country, and the rest of the world, should take a look at.

Some common controls that the Green Deal promotes are motion sensors that switch lights off when there is no movement in the building. Light sensitive sensors are another solution which dim or switch lights depending on the environment.

Lighting controls and considerations are a sector of energy savings that commercial and public sectors have to start looking at more seriously.

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