Sharing energy-saving secrets at the Australian Smart Lighting Summit

The Australian Smart Lighting Summit, to be held in Melbourne from 18-19 August, will attract developers, contractors, lighting industry professionals and local government authorities.

The summit provides a platform for these industry stakeholders to discuss strategies to improve energy efficiency, upcoming project opportunities, new technology and regulations impacting the sector. Attendees will be sharing best-practice strategies and challenges to achieving energy and cost savings.

Lighting projects are currently being carried out by councils all across Australia. According to the Municipal Association of Victoria, over 80% of its councils are currently transitioning to energy-efficient lighting, and it has partnered with consultancy Ironbark Sustainability to deliver the world’s second-largest streetlight replacement program, which aims to save up to $340 million.

Meanwhile, the City of Sydney has replaced over half of its public domain lights and achieved more than a 40% energy reduction. The NSW Government has announced a grid-wide rollout of energy-saving schemes in 41 councils across Sydney, the Central Coast and Hunter regions. The City of Melbourne has also recently updated its Public Lighting Strategy, which aims to ensure the city is inviting, interesting and safe during the evening, and attract more activity into Melbourne’s laneways, parks and squares.

But there is still more to learn, and local councils and developers will be looking to gain valuable lessons from the success of cities abroad. Nigel Parry of lighting manufacturer OrangeTek will be sharing experiences from the United Kingdom, working alongside local authorities that have embarked on successful LED replacement programs. Martin Valentine from Abu Dhabi Municipality will also be speaking about the region’s replacement of 600,000 streetlights with LED fixtures, leading to an estimated saving of up to $140 million.

“The long-term benefits are key to justifying early change where possible,” said Valentine.

“The challenge is not with the rapidly changing technology itself and the obvious improvements in both the sources and ‘smart’ controls. It is ensuring it is understood exactly what one wants to have and the lighting designed and applied appropriately.

“Also, if a region with such extreme environmental conditions as Abu Dhabi can be seen to have successfully embraced new lighting technologies like LED, I hope it might give some assurances for other similar challenging locations.”

Manufacturers including Philips, Gerard, SLA, LEDified and GE will also be attending the summit to showcase their latest technologies and take advantage of the growing market. 

More information on the Australian Smart Lighting Summit can be found at www.lightingconference.com.au.