Post Contents
How to Reduce Carbon Footprints with Sustainable Lighting Practices?
As the concern for the environment grows year on year, many businesses are looking for ways to reduce their carbon footprint. One often forgotten but very significant area for energy saving is lighting. Installing sustainable lighting can contribute to energy conservation, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and save money. In this article, we will take a deeper look into sustainable lighting practices and how they can make an impact on our carbon footprint.
The Impact of Lighting on Carbon Emissions
Before we look into sustainable solutions, it is important to understand the scale of the problem. Lighting accounts for a significant amount of the world’s energy consumption, with some estimates putting this amount at around 15% of global electricity usage. This significant energy demand directly translates into carbon emissions, as much of the electricity used in the world is still generated from fossil fuels.
In commercial and industrial settings, lighting can be responsible for up to 40% of a business’s electricity use. This figure gives both a challenge and an opportunity to businesses as they can work to try and reduce their energy use through sustainable practices.
Energy-Efficient Lighting Technologies
Sustainable lighting systems are at the forefront of energy-saving technologies, and LED lighting has emerged as a game changer in this area. LEDs consume up to 75% less energy than traditional bulbs, and they provide better illumination and more lighting options. LEDs also have a much longer lifespan, so they don’t need replacing as often so they reduce waste, and they have a better quality of light and colour intensity.
Smart Lighting Systems and Controls
Using smart lighting technology in your lighting systems is another big leap forward for sustainable light practices. Smart lighting systems use sensors and timers to optimise your light usage based on who uses the building, the time of day and how much natural light there is. These tools can help to reduce wasted energy by tailoring your lighting to the needs of your building or office space.
Lighting Restoration and Upgrades
Lighting restoration or remanufacturing gives businesses a major opportunity to reduce their carbon footprint. Restoring outdated lighting systems and updating them with LED bulbs, new smart controls and wiring can lead to big reductions in energy consumption and carbon emissions.
The only issue with lighting restoration is that the costs can be quite substantial to start with, but the long-term energy savings mean that the initial costs will soon make financial sense. Furthermore, many countries offer incentives and rebates for businesses that upgrade to energy-efficient lighting systems, which also helps with the costs of these changes.
The Role of Renewable Energy in Lighting
If you want to minimise the carbon footprint of your lighting system, use renewable energy sources such as solar power or wind power. For example, the DRK Lighting Chessington office and workshop is powered with the help of solar panels on our roof. These natural energy sources can reduce or even eliminate the carbon emissions associated with lighting, and if you operate them through green tariffs, they can be very cost-effective and save money.
Using Natural Light
Using natural light is one of the most sustainable light practices as it does not require any power or any money to deliver. However, the building does have to be designed to have the best-placed windows for maximum daylight, well-placed skylights, light tubes and reflective surfaces, as these can all help to reduce the need for artificial light.
Having lots of natural daylight in a building can also improve the well-being and productivity of team. It is also important to consider the heating implications of a building that is full of windows, however, as this could make your heating bills rise and offset any financial or carbon footprint savings.
Behavioural Changes and Education
While technological solutions play an important role in reducing your carbon footprint, it is also essential to consider how human behaviour plays into this. People and businesses need to understand how energy-saving habits such as turning off lights when leaving a room, selecting the appropriate light for your task and utilising natural lighting can all contribute to energy saving and reducing costs.
Businesses can help promote these practices by putting up signs and posters, running awareness campaigns and making sure energy saving is in company policies.
Conclusion
Reducing your carbon footprint by using sustainable lighting has many different aspects including smart lighting, lighting restoration, renewable energy sources and using natural light. By using some or all of these sustainable lighting practices, you can help your business to save energy and money and reduce its environmental impact.
