Cooperative procurement on improved GLS lamp
Cooperative procurement on improved GLS lamp
A lamp with a performance somewhere between a CFL and an incandescent is needed on the market. A European buyer group coordinated by the International Energy Agency's Program on Co-operative has issued functional specifications for a Replacement Incandescent Lamp that is at least 30 percent more efficient than standard GLS lamps and lasts three times as long.
The Technology Procurement Competition was launched in Hannover 16 April 1997. Manufacturers can now compete for orders of several million lamps. If the competition is successful, the new GLS lamp could be on the market late 1998/early 1999.
Buyer groups exist in UK, The Netherlands, Finland, and Sweden. The work is jointly lead by BRE (UK) and NUTEK (Sweden): In Finland, the work is coordinated by Motiva and in the Netherlands by NOVEM.
The IEA program on cooperative technology procurement covers several technologies. The aim of one project is to create a strong enough demand to make it worthwhile for manufacturers to commercialize an improved General Lighting Service (GLS) lamp. This procurement initiative follows a similar US Department of Defense innovative procurement project that was announced in the summer of 1995 (Innovative US lamp procurement, IAEEL Newsletter 2/95).
The project is still in its early stages: thus far, only a so-called "indicative notice" (or "early warning") has been published, in order to inform manufacturers that an invitation for tenders is being considered. The lamp that the group would like to see developed and marketed should be able to fill the gap between standard incandescent lamps and integral compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs). Although technical specifications have not yet been finalized, the lamps will probably have to be at least 30% more efficient than a standard incandescent lamp and have a life of about 3 000 hours.
In comparison, the life of a standard incandescent lamp is ~1 000 hours. So-called long-life incandescent lamps last long but are less efficient. A CFL, on the other hand, is about four times as efficient as a standard incandescent lamp and lasts at least 8 000 hours.
So why ask for a lamp that is less efficient than a CFL? The project manager, Paul Davidson says: "We don't want this lamp instead of a CFL. But we must be realistic and admit that there are many applications where a CFL either isn't cost-effective enough or doesn't fit because it's too large or because dimming is required." Paul Davidson points out that many homes have 30 or more standard lamp sockets. "We hope to see a lamp market where CFLs are the first choice in residential lighting and where improved GLS lamps are used for the 20-or-so sockets where a CFL realistically won't be used." These arguments are very much the same as those cited by the US Department of Defense when they launched their procurement project last summer.
Agencies involved in the IEA project at present are the UK Building Research Establishment (BRE), the Swedish National Board for Industrial and Technical Development (NUTEK), the Dutch Agency for Energy and the Environment (NOVEM), and the Finnish Information Centre for Energy Efficiency (MOTIVA). The project is also supported by the European Union. None of these government agencies are acting as buyers themselves: Instead, each agency is putting together a group of competent and important buyers in their own country, such as hotel chains, public housing organizations, supermarket chains, lamp distributors, and electric utilities.
The main market segment for the lamp would obviously be the residential sector. However, since it would be impossible to organize a large-enough buyer group consisting of households, these commercial organizations are being used to create enough volume to get the lamp out into the market. In addition, Davidson is eager to promote dedicated CFL fixtures since he regards them as the technology with the greatest long-term potential for improving domestic lighting efficiency. Their use is strongly advocated by his own organization, the Building Research Establishment, acting on behalf of the UK Department of Environment. "Properly designed fixtures dedicated for the use of pin-based CFLs are very important for achieving lasting savings. But it will take a long time for dedicated CFL fixtures to penetrate the household market."
In January 1996, BRE, the UK Energy Saving Trust, the UK luminaire industry, and London Electricity started a program for reducing the price of these fixtures in London. (See also: Dedicated CFL Fixtures Bring Savings Home, IAEEL Newsletter 1/95.)
Nils Borg
For more information, contact:
Paul Davidson
BRECSU
BRE, Garston Watford, WD2 7JR, UK
Tel: +44 1923 66 44 37
Fax: +44 1923 66 40 97
E-mail: davidsonp@bre.co.uk