In December 2016, the street lighting and smart control industry in Australia united for the release of a major report on the future of the country’s street lighting that demonstrates the massive economic, environmental and public safety benefits of light emitting diode (LED) street lighting.
An initiative of the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia (IPWEA), supported by the Australian Government’s Department of the Environment and Energy, the Street Lighting and Smart Controls (SLSC) Programme Roadmap makes 15 recommendations to fast-track Australia’s changeover to LED street lighting.
The SLSC Programme is an initiative of the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia (IPWEA), a not-for-profit association dedicated to improving public infrastructure for communities across Australia and New Zealand.
IPWEA modelling shows that if every street light in Australia is changed 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 reduction could be as high as 72 per cent.
The Roadmap reports that in Australia, councils spend about $400 million each year on street lighting. Changing to smart controlled LEDs would slash that cost by an estimated 25 per cent.
Despite these clear benefits, only 10 per cent of street lights in Australia have been changed to LEDs, and almost none have been installed with smart controls. Many street lights still use old inefficient mercury vapour technology.
The Roadmap was compiled in consultation and with the support of the Department of the Environment and Energy and the E3 Program, as well as major lighting and smart controls companies. A wide number of parties were consulted including state and territory governments, the Australian Local Government Association, Lighting Council Australia, Energy Networks Australia as well as individual utilities, road authorities, local governments and more than 30 street lighting technology suppliers.
To read the Roadmap, and for more information on the SLSC Programme, visit the Programme website at www.slsc.org.au. This website provides a free resource for the industry with case studies, reference documents, information on upcoming events and news from the street lighting and smart controls world. To download a copy of the Roadmap, click here.