Lux Magazine reports: Let’s say you’re in charge of energy use at the company and you want to take big steps to slash the bill. Who you gonna call? A building insulator? A smart meter salesman? The most common answer is….

 ‘An LED vendor.’

 That’s according to a poll of over 100 UK energy professionals in the public and private sector by Energy Live News (ELN), which asked them to name which measures they took over the last year, and which ones they are planning.

 ‘LEDs were the most popular choice for energy professionals to save energy over the last year – and they look set to remain favourites for the next 12 months,’ the website reported.

 83 percent of respondents said they tapped LED lighting over the last year, and 80 percent said they’ll bring in LEDs over the next 12 months.

 The number-two measure both for last year and the upcoming one didn’t even involve outright product purchases, as managers reported that ‘changing culture and behaviour’ was also high on their list (in other words, remember to turn off the efficient new LEDs).

 The poll did not specifically ask about new boilers, solar panel installations or building managemet systems, although those did receive write-in votes.

 ‘Insulation, variable speed drives, AMT or smart meters and energy management systems tied third, each being installed over the last year by around two fifths of energy professionals,’ ELN wrote.

 As popular as LEDs were among respondents, they elicited some reality checks from ELN readers in the website’s comments section.

 ‘When it comes to lighting LED is not quite the panacea for all ills it’s set up to be,’ wrote one.

 ‘Manufacturers are making grandiose claims about the longevity of these fittings without the evidence to back them up – the technology is so new there just haven’t been the number of hours in a year to claim they’ll last 100,000 hours or whatever they claim.’

 To that, another reader shot back, ‘Have you not heard of accelerated testing?’ One fan of LEDs commented that it might still be too early to splash out for them.

 ‘Buying LED today may not be the best option,’ he said. ‘It might be better to wait a few years when efficacies will be even higher, as in many applications they have the potential to last 20-30 years and in that situation you may be better off with an optimised package that will go the distance.
’

 In a cautionary tale, he added, ‘A lot of LED packages are poorly selected/sold and they will be replaced a lot earlier than hoped for.
’

 Poorly sold? Hmmmm. Sounds like the poll needs a subcateory: Changing the culture and behaviour of vendors.

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Photo: To avoid this sort of utility bill shock, energy managers are turning to LEDs more than anything. Image is from Shutterstock

Lux Magazine reports: The government is considering ways to slash demand for energy by encouraging homes and businesses to install low-energy lighting and controls.

A consultation on ways to reduce demand for electricity was launched yesterday together with the Energy Bill, and runs until the end of January.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) believes that a quarter of the potential energy savings to be made in homes by 2030 could come from getting rid of incandescent lamps, while lighting and controls could account for more than a third of savings in commercial properties and nearly half in the public sector (including streetlighting).

In the residential sector, the major barrier to adopting these technologies is a lack of awareness, the government believes, while in commercial buildings the main problems are the payback period on lighting upgrades and the fact that the person using a building and paying the bills is not always the one with the power to make changes.

The government is considering various financial incentives for energy-efficiency measures as well as voluntary and information-based approaches.

Engineering body Cibse has welcomed the consultation, saying it comes “better late than never”. Cibse said that simple improvements to building performance could make a huge difference to the amount of energy needed in the future.

Any new measures to promote efficiency will come on top of the Green Deal, set to be launched fully in the new year, which will provide finance packages allowing  households and businesses to pay for energy-efficiency upgrades from savings on their bills.

Energy minister Ed Davey said the Energy Bill and associated measures are designed to drive low-carbon economic growth and “keep the lights on”.

Last year 39TWh of energy (that’s 39 billion kWh) was used to light commercial and public sector buildings, while around 15TWh was used in homes.

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Lux Magainze report: Energy-efficient lighting has come out top in a survey of green technology investments for businesses.

Over three quarters of businesses (77 per cent) polled by the Carbon Trust said they had invested in energy-efficient lighting in the past year, while 59 per cent had invested in employee training and 57 per cent had invested in energy metering and monitoring.

Almost all businesses surveyed said energy efficiency was an important consideration when buying or upgrading equipment.

However, the survey also highlighted reservations about the transition to the new technology, with only half of respondents (51 per cent) saying they were confident about manufacturers’ energy-efficiency claims.

Hugh Jones, managing director of business advice at the Carbon Trust said: ‘Our survey showed that return on investment is the most important factor for organisations considering investing in energy efficiency and low carbon technologies.’

The survey comes as the Carbon Trust launches the Green Business Directory, which lists suppliers that have been vetted under the trust’s Accredited Supplier scheme.

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Showing current and forecast smart lighting controls growth.

This new analysis examines the key growth strategies of the major lighting companies, including Acuity Brands, Legrand, Lutron and Zumtobel, and it categorises application areas into commercial and industrial, residential, outdoor lighting, public and government buildings and road vehicles. Its geographical reach is North and South America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and the rest of the world (RoW).

On the basis of lighting type, the study examines LED, fluorescent, (FL), compact fluorescent (CFL) and high intensity discharge lamps (HID), plus the and related controls, which include relays, controllable breakers, occupancy sensors, dimming actuators, switch actuators, blind/shutter actuators, transmitters and receivers.

The smart lighting industry involves the use of lighting control systems that deliver the right amount and/or quality of light when needed. It can allow lighting to automatically perform various operations at set times or under set conditions.

Smart lighting also makes use of intelligent lighting control systems to intelligently control light, based on various parameters including occupancy, movement, colour temperature, amount of natural/daylight and so on. These are the main topics of the new study.

The growth of the market in coming years is expected to be very important, with the revenue growth estimated to reach £33 billion by 2020, at an estimated CAGR of 15.8% from 2014 to 2020. In addition to the major players mentioned, there have been a number of acquisitions, mergers, new product launches, agreements etc., and these are also discussed in the report.

The importance of LEDs

Europe currently has the largest market for smart lighting, especially in commercial and industrial, public and government buildings applications, with the Asia Pacific region second, the report finds. Several new players have emerged in the latter region, which ‘have developed breakthrough products related to smart lighting’. The market is also expected to grow at a modest rate in the developed regions, such as the Americas, according to this analysis.

Wireless is changing the market

 In addition, the report observes that LED based lighting devices, integrated with the various wireless technologies, are finding good opportunities. Wireless networking technologies, it says, are bringing intelligence to a new generation of smart lighting.