Sam Woodward, Customer Education Leader, Europe and Africa at Lutron Electronics, shares his top tips for energy efficiency. Every April 22 since 1970, Earth Day is a reminder to everyone that we need to take care of our planet and conserve energy.
While it is important for all to take part in this initiative, businesses have to lead by example, and not just on Earth Day. With governments placing increasing pressure on reducing energy expenditure and the 2020 target of improving energy efficiency by 20% from 1990 levels, conserving energy in the workplace is a long-term educative approach which is at the same time law-abiding, cost-effective and inspiring. Here are four steps that businesses can take to reduce energy consumption throughout the year:
1. Lead the way to a brighter or dimmer future
One of the best and simplest ways to save energy is to use dimmers and other devices that manage daylight and electrical light, generally referred to as light control. The use of a dimmer switch can save 4-9% in electricity consumption – even at the highest lighting levels – over a standard on-off switch. They also help save energy and extend the lifespan of LEDs, halogen lamps and incandescent lamps. On average, dimming an incandescent or halogen light will reduce energy use by about 20%. LED bulbs run cooler when dimmed, which can also extend bulb life.
Other lighting controls, such as automatic blind controls, can make a difference by allowing people to take maximum advantage of available daylight rather than switching on the lights.
2. Embrace the future with alternate lighting sources: LED
With calls to ban general purpose halogen lamps by September 2018 to meet the EU’s energy saving drive, commercial spaces must be equipped with alternative energy-saving lighting technologies such as LEDs. One of the many benefits of LEDs over halogens, is the long life-expectation of a high-quality LED lamp, which reduces the need to replace them so often. However, simply converting to LED is just part of the story: efficient electronics and adding automatic controls (to switch the lamps off when they are not needed) can further optimise energy efficiency.
3. Choose the right colour
Even the colour chosen for office walls can help save energy. The reason: lighter colours reflect up to 80% of the incoming light. This way there is less need for electric lighting when going for brighter colours. Dark colours on the other hand only reflect up to 20% of the incoming light. Hence office managers should opt for a lighter design not just for reasons pertaining to the atmosphere of the room.
4. Create smart offices with sensors and shading
Adjusting the level of light required in the office can greatly impact energy use, productivity, comfort and wellbeing.Occupancy and vacancy sensors ensure that lighting is only turned on when really needed. Employing daylight sensors, which adapt a room’s lighting depending on the existing amount of daylight, can also save more energy. As soon as the daylight does not suffice anymore, the brightness needed is created automatically through lighting. Shades are perfect to optimise the energy consumption of a building: during the summer they protect commercial buildings from strong sunlight – hence less air conditioning is needed.
Lighting technology can help keep a lower carbon footprint. When looking at optimising energy use in the workplace through lighting control, there is an array of options available, and they shouldn’t be ignored. Overall, we need to work together to ensure that we are all working towards the same goal.
For further tips and information, please visit www.lutron.com/europe
