Optimised for energy efficiency and long maintenance intervals
For safe and attractive towns and cities
Given the climatic changes likely to occur in the future, strategies and technologies for greater energy efficiency and, therefore, a reduction in CO2 emissions are gaining continuously in importance. This goal is also supported by many of the regulations issued by the European Union, such as the Ecological Design and Energy Service Directive. This also affects street lighting, much of which is based on cheap but inefficient technology from the sixties and accounts for around half of all street lighting in Germany and a third in Europe as a whole. In this connection, the power consumption of modern lamps has fallen significantly at the same time as the light output has increased. The result: over the last ten years, the efficiency of luminaires has almost doubled. The reluctance to renew street lighting, which is reflected by the annual rate of change of just three percent, is the consequence of consideration being given solely to the initial investment costs instead of also taking account of the energy and, therefore, the operating costs of the luminaires over their entire working life. The broad range of products and services to be shown at Light+Building 2008 will once again generate impulses for conversion to energy-efficient technologies for outdoor lighting.The International Trade Fair for Architecture and Technology is the world's biggest innovation platform for the sector and will next open its doors in Frankfurt am Main from 6 to 11 April 2008.
Around 2,100 exhibitors will present a comprehensive range of products and services for architects, interior architects, designers and engineers, as well as for craftsmen, the wholesale and retail trade and the industry. All national and international market leaders from the three interdisciplinary fields of lighting, electrical engineering and house and building automation will be represented at the fair.
The lighting section of Light+Building is the world's biggest lighting 'showroom' with around 1,500 exhibitors. Technical luminaires and lamps are located in Halls 3 and 4, as well as in the Forum and Festhalle. Urban lighting with a huge variety of outdoor luminaires is to be found in Hall 5.0.
The innovative lamps and luminaires, as well as intelligent lighting-management solutions for outdoor lighting, to be seen at Light+Building 2008 are prerequisites for cutting the municipalities' operating and maintenance costs – and for more environmental protection. In this connection, cost-optimised alternatives are also available, which do not require plant to be converted or completely replaced but which can be used to upgrade existing systems.
For example, cheap but inefficient mercury-vapour lamps can be replaced by the latest generation of high-pressure sodium-vapour lamps which emit up to 50 percent more light and consume around 10 percent less energy. This results in greater road-traffic safety and significantly reduced operating costs.
Greater benefits are offered by systems using halogen metal-vapour lamps that emit a warm white light, and matching electronic ballast. Systems of this kind create a special atmosphere that not only makes towns and cities more attractive but also, thanks to the reliable light output, brings about a considerable increase people's sense of security.
Modern outdoor lighting is distinguished not only by energy-efficient lamps and devices but also by application and lamp-specific optical systems that can be adapted to the geometric situation of the lighting installation. For instance, the spacing between the areas to be illuminated and the position of the posts can be varied at bus stops, parking bays or roundabouts and compensated for by upswept-arm posts, arms of different lengths or luminaires set at different angles. The energy-saving potential of the lamp can be used to modernise old installations via the spread of the light-distribution curve by changing the lamp's focal point in the lens. Thus, in the case of standard lighting, the lamp output can be reduced at the same time as the spacing of the lighting points is increased.
'Top' in environmental terms is street lighting for bike lanes or footpaths, which, on the one hand, is fitted with long-lived light-emitting diodes and, on the other hand, take their power supply from solar cells. Specially optimised for this application, low-energy LED modules are fitted with an oval lens that aims the light straight at the area required and minimises scattering or light contamination.
Intelligent lighting management can also reduce energy consumption, light contamination and operating costs – at the same time as increasing road-traffic safety. Thanks to LON power-line technology, flexible lighting is guaranteed by demand-oriented planning, output adaptation by location-specific dimming and optimised maintenance processes by extensive monitoring functions.
Besides harmonised lamps and lighting management, Light+Building 2008 from 6 to 11 April will also focus on street lighting that is both innovative and decorative.
Energy-efficient technologies make a contribution to the environment not only by cutting CO2 emissions but also by increase road-traffic safety.
