CIE Session 1995, November 3, 14:45-17:45
Delhi, India
Evan Mills, Ph.D.
Given the enormous scope for energy savings, and the steady rate of technological innovation, many groups around the world are today promoting efficient lighting. In addition to the lighting industry itself, key players include professional lighting organizations such as CIE, governments, electric utilities, international lending institutions, and non-governmental organizations. The growing interest in efficient lighting is having a profound impact on lighting markets, technology development, and on the very practice of lighting design and education.
The International Commission on Illumination (CIE) held a workshop at the CIE 23rd Session in 1995 to explore the lighting and energy issues In an effort to achieve increased coordination with other lighting groups, CIE invited the International Association for Energy-Efficient Lighting (IAEEL) to organize this workshop in cooperation with CIE's TC 3-24 (Energy Aspects of Lighting, Division 3). There were approximately 150 attendees. The workshop provided an overview of energy and lighting and covered specific topics such as windows and daylighting technologies, control systems, lighting-HVAC interactions, human factors, harmonizing lighting quality and efficiency, government initiatives, lighting efficiency standards, and needs of developing nations regarding energy-efficient technology.
Following a series of presentations, the focus of the workshop was on audience participation and input, with the aim of helping CIE identify promising areas for future work in the area of energy and lighting. A series of specific recommendations for CIE resulted from the discussion, and in summarized below.
Although no exact estimates exist, global lighting energy use is probably in the vicinity of 2000 billion kilowatt-hours per annum, and represents 10% to 25% of total electricity use in most countries. This is equivalent to $200 billion in annual expenditures, at typical unsubsidized Western electricity prices, and the output of 1600 electrical power plants with a capacity of 250 megawatts each. The environmental dimension of lighting energy use is also important. Lighting alone is responsible for about 5% of all energy-related emissions of carbon dioxide--the primary "greenhouse gas".
We have come a long way since Edison's three-lumen-per-watt filament lamp. Yet, from a technical and economic perspective, enormous energy savings are possible beyond what has already been achieved. This is the case regardless of whether one looks at the most highly industrialized countries or at the developing world. Substantial opportunities exist throughout the residential, commercial, industrial, and outdoor lighting areas. Proper application of efficient light sources, luminaires, control systems, and daylighting strategies is frequently found to generate savings of 50% or more.
Ongoing technology development and innovation provides lighting designers with a continued stream of exciting new efficiency options, many of which offer non-energy benefits in addition to energy savings.
A wide variety of deployment programs are underway, designed to overcome various market barriers that tend to slow the rate of adoption of efficient lighting solutions. However, great care should be taken that the eagerness to reduce lighting energy use doesn't come into conflict with the ultimate importance of lighting quality and the performance and well being of people conducting visual tasks. Indeed, we must pursue efficient lighting solutions that maintain or enhance lighting quality with a view towards expanding the definition of quality to include energy efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
Recent efforts to promote energy-efficient lighting have produced a very dynamic market, characterized by rapid technological development coupled with the involvement of many diverse actors. CIE is in an ideal position to play a role in the continued progress towards more efficient lighting, and indeed already has a number of technical committees dealing with specific aspects of this broad topic. At the 1991 CIE Session, Technical Committee 3-24 was formed to deal comprehensively with energy and lighting. This work was continued by the Workshop at the 1995 CIE Session in Delhi.
The workshop opened with an overview of the rationale for energy efficiency in the lighting area and status of selected initiatives around the world, followed by a series of specific briefings:
The primary aim of the workshop was to identify key agenda items that CIE could pursue in the future, possibly in collaboration with IAEEL, to increase the CIE role in the international movement for energy-efficient lighting.
Based on panelist inputs and considerable audience participation, the following topics were put forward as agenda items for consideration by the CIE (not necessarily in order of importance):
KEYWORDS: Calculations, Daylight, Information Systems, Lighting Design & Specifications, Education, Maintenance
The central goal of the IAEEL is to foster implementation of energy-efficient lighting systems around the world. This is especially important given that efficient lighting is often a symbol for energy efficiency in general. In the realm of lighting, improving energy efficiency means cost-effectively reducing the electricity required to produce illumination while providing a high-quality visual environment.
Energy efficiency is an important strategy for saving money, reducing environmental problems, improving international security, and enhancing economic development and competitiveness.
An important role of the Association is to increase the communication and cooperation among individuals within the buildings and lighting design communities, the lighting industry, energy service companies, research establishments, governments, electric utilities, environmental groups, and public interest organizations.
It is in this spirit that the IAEEL is enthusiastic about the prospects for working more closely with groups such as CIE.
( Evan_Mills@macmail2.lbl.gov)If you like to know more, log on to Lawrence Berckely Laboratories (USA) by a simple click of the mouse
