Lighting consumes approximately 20% of all electricity in the world, 30% of electricity in commercial spaces and 40% of electricity in office buildings worldwide. So it stands to reason that energy efficiency has become the hot topic when talking about lighting, with organisations asking themselves ‘How can we save more energy? How can we save on carbon emissions? How can we become more sustainable? How can we make financial savings?’
There are still many companies using old lighting installations which have very high energy and maintenance costs. Because of the advances that have been made in lighting technology, there are now products with up to four times the life of a standard lamp and the energy saving lighting solutions help customers save up to 80% of electricity they use for lighting. This means that it is possible to reduce the maintenance and energy costs at the same time as contributing to sustainability with raw materials, packaging and transport all minimised.
With many different light sources, luminaires and lighting controls available, there is a lighting solution for any application, whether it is sustainable lighting for warehouses, factories and offices or schools, hospitals, streets, highways or even offshore oil rigs.
LED is a technology that is growing fast and has many advantages particularly long life and low energy. However, often with this technology, when the lifetime of the light source has ended, the whole luminaire is discarded. At Aura Light however, we believe that this is the wrong way of thinking and we advocate modularity for sustainability where only the light source needs to be replaced rather than the whole luminaire. Another concern about LED is that the quality on the market is still in the early stages of development, so variable and often poor. With quality manufacturers like Aura, there is real sustainability with no need for constant replacement.
By introducing the latest in light management systems, controlling the lighting enhances the energy saving possibilities still further. Lighting control opens up many possibilities when it comes to maximising the energy savings and it makes it possible to control when and how much light is needed. In fact, lighting control can reduce energy consumption by up to 80%. For instance, Aura Light has its IQ sensors which save both energy and money as they have a typical payback of one to two years. Sensing with this type of lighting control means that no-one needs to remember to switch lights on and off again.
With such advanced energy saving lighting packages available and combining LED efficient light sources and lighting controls, it has become logical to use the high energy savings to finance new lighting systems and installation. Aura Light is an accredited Energy Service Company (ESCo) and as such offers energy services and can guarantee energy savings. Accredited ESCo's are eligible for White Certificates or TEE’s which are documents certifying that energy consumption has been reduced – these can be traded at the TEE stock exchange by the ESCo's.
The ‘Rent Your Lighting Scheme’ which Aura Light has recently launched eliminates investment in equipment and reduces an organisation’s energy costs from day one. It is an exciting development with big benefits for UK commerce and industry. The concept is likely to appeal to all business directors and accountants as the scheme aids cash flow keeping costs off the balance sheet and also takes advantages of tax benefits. Importantly, the scheme provides a full performance guarantee over the contract period. In Aura’s experience the lighting installations will continue to provide large energy savings well into the future. The scheme is ideal for all types of applications including offices, warehouses, industry, retail, hotels, education, and exterior lighting.
Aura Light Group AB has already completed several lighting projects under this type of scheme. One recent example has been with Whirlpool Corporation, the world’s leading manufacturer of domestic appliances.
Aura Light signed an agreement with Whirlpool Corporation to assist the funding of lighting investment using White Certificates. This is for the lighting of the Whirlpool production facilities and Aura Light’s role is to verify the reduced energy consumption obtained through the installations and manage the certification process.
The company has installed energy saving lighting at its production facilities and most recently at its Cassinetta plant in Italy where Aura Eco luminaires are fitted with Aura Eco Saver long life fluorescent lamps. Thanks to a special survey and Aura Light’s expertise, the refrigerator factory in Cassinetta is reducing its energy consumption by 37% per year and saving 103 tonnes of CO2 emissions.