Exploiting the capabilities of modern lighting technology
As a lighting engineer, Mike Simpson, CIBSE’s new president, believes that lighting should be given the opportunity to show how it can help reduce the world’s carbon emissions.
My background is lighting, 100% lighting or as we are sometimes referred to as ‘pure lighters’. Like many of my contemporaries I studied at South Bank when it was a polytechnic. My first degree included a lighting specialisation as well as industrial training within the lighting industry. Not only did I learn to file a metal block square, I also learned to make a fluorescent lamp by hand, photometer luminaires and, although I didn’t realise it at the time took part in research that would lead to our current glare-rating system.
A year after I joined the IES, it combined forces with the Institution of Heating & Ventilating Engineers to become first CIBS, then CIBSE. 100 years since that first meeting of lighting practitioners took place we celebrate the centenary of the grandson of IES, the Society of Light & Lighting.
By 1909 the electric lamp had been around for 30 years but was only used in wealthy households that could afford their own generator. Wide-scale distribution of electricity was yet to come, but it was the electric lamp that stimulated the creation of the generation industry. Most of London’s street lighting was gas and it would not be until after the First World War that fierce competition between gas and electricity would hot up. The fluorescent lamp had yet to be invented, as had the profession of the lighting designer. We measured lighting quantities with a piece of paper and a spot of grease, and the main issue of the day was the establishment of fundamental units for the measurement of light.
The founders of the IES could hardly have imagined the changes that would take place over the next century, or that a phenomenon called global warming existed. That CIBSE and the building-services industry as a whole would have a vital part to play in reducing world demand for energy, and that lighting engineers in particular would take up the challenge and play a significant part.
Of all our senses, sight plays the most important part, with 80% of our sensory information being received through the eye. The contribution of light to the overall performance of a building was brought home to me when visiting our members overseas.
In northern Europe we are concerned with both heating and cooling a building to maintain comfort for the occupiers, although they have the option of personal intervention by adding or taking off layers of clothing. In Asia there is no concept of heating as the main need is to keep cool, hence they are very aware of the need to reduce solar gain and use natural as well as forced cooling in their buildings.
But when the Sun goes down the need for light is universal. Light is light and dark is dark wherever you are, and so are the lighting solutions. It is independent of climate and culture, and the guidance we give in the UK is equally applicable in other countries without modification. Our codes and guides should reflect these differences and similarities if we are to service members across the globe.
Lighting is the most visible consumer of energy in buildings. European buildings consume around 40% of the electricity generated. In places of high density like Hong Kong, that figure is as high as 64%. Lighting load typically accounts for 30% of the electrical load in a commercial building. Using today’s technology we could save 40% of that.
Some savings have manifested themselves in a very public way, with the withdrawal from sale of lamps with a poor energy rating. This is a global initiative, with 33 countries already taking part and 20 planning similar action. This will be lighting’s single biggest contribution to reducing carbon.
If we could instantly put in place all the savings possible with today’s lighting technology we would reduce enough carbon (through generation) to offset all the world’s air travel. But somehow the popular press has missed the message and hailed it as a national disaster.
However the bigger disaster is that we, the lighting community, have failed to get this message across by putting out mixed messages. Where else do we try to hang on to a technology that is 130 years old and has been overtaken several times by better alternatives which will deliver up to 80% energy savings?
Other savings can be realised by simply ensuring that the lights are turned off when they are not needed. Turning down the office lights when there is sufficient daylight or when you leave saves about 60% of the installed load. But look around any city at night and see the office lights blazing after midnight.
Many savings are brought about by technology, and lighting is undergoing its own technological revolution. Solid-state lighting is developing at such a pace that it is difficult to predict more than a year ahead where it will be. It will deliver energy savings along with a previously unimaginable palate of new lighting tools for the designer to work with. We are no longer limited by technology, only our imagination.
We have already used messages on the part lighting can play in reducing carbon emissions to great effect. The ‘lights off’ message played an integral role in CIBSE’s Carbon Clean up Campaigns, during which participants were encouraged to carry out simple carbon-reduction activities within the workplace such as switching off lights and considering the use of sensor lighting. By starting off with such a visual action many of the participants were able to take carbon savings further and motivate colleagues and management to get involved. Globally we had ‘Earth Hour’ with a billion people worldwide turning off their lights to show their commitment to saving the planet.
Together with the contribution that other building services can make to the challenging target we have been set to deliver zero carbon commercial buildings by 2019, we are really starting to see progress. Building-services engineers are now being engaged at concept stage to work alongside architects to create these buildings for the future. The challenge for everyone is to tackle climate change in a way that will minimise the impact of change on the daily lives of people. It’s good to remember our motto ‘For the greater comfort of mankind’ because through our professional practice we have to deliver on our lives and habits. This will be the future role of the Institution.
This article is based on Mike Simpson’s presidential address. It can be read in full on CIBSE’s web site.
