LED street lighting roll-out could save councils $100 million each year
The street lighting, smart control and energy industries have joined forces 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) Program 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 could 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.
IPWEA Chief Executive Robert Fuller says Australia cannot afford to ignore this opportunity to provide communities with better, safer, cheaper and more efficient street lighting, and that the Roadmap provides a clear pathway to achieving a large-scale changeover to LED street lighting.
Fuller explained “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.”
LED lighting also offers considerable opportunities for lighting sport and recreation facilities as well as parks and amenity areas.
To read the Roadmap and for more information on the SLSC Program go to www.slsc.org.au
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