– The Light Approach
Gavin Edwards, Chair of Lighting Association Ireland, urges legislators, statutory bodies, architects and consulting engineers to look at lighting with a fresh perspective.
While the SEAI Energy in Ireland report published in December 2024 showed that energy-related emissions decreased by 8.3% in 2023, Ireland still needs to dramatically increase the rate of change to deliver on its legally-binding targets. More often than not, heat pumps and solar panels are, quite rightly, highlighted as some of the primary routes to achieve that.
However, lighting also has a significant role to play, and that is something that is often overlooked and underestimated, according to the Lighting Association Ireland (LAI). Gavin Edwards, Chair of LAI, urges legislators, statutory bodies, architects and consulting engineers to look at lighting with a fresh perspective.
“Lighting obviously enables vision, helps people navigate their surroundings and makes them feel safe”, says Gavin Edwards, “but it also does so much more.
“For instance, the concept of smart buildings is very much to the fore in the pursuit of energy savings, carbon reductions and sustainability, and smart lighting is a major component of that process. Smart lighting enhances building performance and introduces key metrics for evaluating smart technologies.
“Smart lighting systems intelligently respond to occupant needs and environmental changes, optimising energy efficiency and improving comfort. By adjusting light levels based on daylight and occupancy, these systems significantly reduce energy consumption while creating tailored lighting to suit how a building is used. Smart lighting will also prove invaluable when assessing building smartness through rating schemes, including the forthcoming Smart Readiness Indicator (SRI), which will reward buildings with advanced lighting controls.”
Gavin Edwards adds: “Smart lighting also promotes wellbeing and productivity with independent studies demonstrating how adaptive lighting transforms spaces into comfortable and sustainable settings.”
Human-centric lighting – especially when combined with smart controls – provides the right light at the right place and the right time. Tailored systems can be designed for different types of buildings, be it a domestic setting, school, hospital, office or outdoors.
“In addition to driving energy savings, carbon reduction and wellness, lighting is also a sustainability champion and very much to the fore when it comes to product circularity. To optimise every aspect of a product’s lifecycle, lighting manufacturers consider everything from raw material extraction through to manufacturing processes, first use, multiple uses thereafter and final end-of-cycle material disposal.
“To drive home this message, LAI is a proactive organisation that regularly engages with statutory authorities in Ireland, such as SEAI, professional bodies such as the RIAI and CIBSE Ireland, WEEE Ireland and various European legislative bodies. Indeed, through our membership of Lighting Europe our delegates make a significant contribution to the formulation of EU lighting regulations that subsequently become law.
“Nonetheless and despite the foregoing, LAI believes that the contribution lighting currently makes, and can continue to make, in pursuing Ireland’s sustainability goals and obligations, is often underestimated. I urge all those responsible for the design and installation of both indoor and outdoor lighting projects to consult a lighting expert when doing so. The outcome will be a lighting solution that is energy efficient, cost-effective, sustainable and regulation compliant.”
Lighting Association Ireland represents the collective views and commercial interests of all member companies involved in lighting in Ireland.
To learn more, visit lightingassociation.ie
