Lighting Control
Illuminating ideas for energy saving
Alastair Ramsay, Sustainable Development Manager for Legrand, talks about the role lighting control systems can play in delivering the necessary reductions in energy consumption.
user of electricity in a typical commercial building, is currently the focus of a great deal of this attention. These are tricky times for all
T
organisations. The requirement to reduce energy consumption is coming from all sides, whether through legislation (Part L and CRCEES), environmental schemes (BREEAM and LEED) or the day-to-day pressure to reduce costs, but guidance on how to achieve this in a way that best benefits a business can be confusing. One thing though is absolutely clear,
lighting control systems are going to be key. Not only do they provide the ability to deliver energy reduction at the kind of levels being demanded, they do so while enhancing the value of pretty much any commercial property.
The facts What then does a wholesaler need to
know about them? Well firstly, the energy saving facts and figures. In the UK, lighting
14 Electrical Wholesaler July 2010
he pressure on businesses to reduce energy consumption is at an all time high, and lighting, as the single largest
accounts for 20% of the annual electricity consumption in non-residential buildings, a figure that equates to 15.2million tonnes of CO2 at a cost of £3.6billion. Even the most basic of absence
detection installations will in most cases save a minimum of 30% of this energy, and therefore cost, by automatically turning off lights when a space is unoccupied. And it doesn’t stop there, the more sophisticated the components and installation the greater the savings – regularly up to 60%.
To save you grabbing for a calculator this
30% equates to an astonishing annual saving of 4.56 million tonnes of CO2 or £1.08billion or, looking at the bigger picture, a 6% reduction in the UK’s electricity consumption in non-residential buildings. So, what about these systems that look
set to deliver so much? Are they expensive? Well, in most installations the payback will be well within 18 months. And in the case of the more sophisticated
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