L
ighting accounts for around 6% of greenhouse gases and, as we saw in the May/
June issue of Lighting in Design (Public lighting: no lighting or smarter lighting),
street lighting is a drain on public resources, and cities across the world are con-
stantly looking for effective lighting systems to relieve some of this burden.
According to an online report by New Scientist (newscientist.com), in a suburb of
Copenhagen – which aims to become carbon-neutral by 2025 – hundreds of lights are
being erected in what is a huge experiment to work out how we should be lighting our
cities in future. Denmark’s new platform for developing future LED lighting solutions is
called the Danish Outdoor Lighting Laboratory or DOLL and the organisers explain that
although LED lighting is a promising technology that will lead to major cost reductions
in future, a crucial part of the transition from traditional to sustainable illumination is a
focus on quality, the end-user, and energy efficiency.
The plan behind DOLL is to combine research, education and innovation in three dif-
ferent types of facilities for testing light. The test facilities cover all requirements from
developing to installing and documenting the effects of light – and address everyone
in the supply chain
New Scientist explains that the street lamps will be installed along 9.2 km of road,
covering about 1.5 km
2
in total. At this point, some 25 companies have reserved space for
their products. Every lamp will be assigned a separate IP address so it can be monitored
remotely. The city will be testing smart lamps that dim if it is sunny, brighten if a few
people pass by at night, or automatically alert the city when something isn't working.
Sensors that track traffic density, air quality, noise, weather conditions and UV radiation
will also be fitted throughout the site to see the environment the lights are operating in
and assess which of them are lowering costs and emissions. As was clear during the
Light+Building Fair in April this year, some cities are already looking into smart street
lighting. Los Angeles recently completed the biggest LED street-light replacement proj-
ect in the world and estimates that this will cut its electricity bills by up to $7 million a
year. Authorities in Barcelona are installing lights that can detect motion and weather
conditions. These can be set to remain dimmed on bright nights, but turn on when it is
foggy – or when few people pass by.
Visitors to Copenhagen will be able to run tests on the system by using sample data
from their own city. In the future, DOLL hopes to incorporate other types of smart city
services into its living lab since the same network that monitors miles of lighting can
be configured to manage parking spaces or water meters. The exhibition opens to the
public on September 18.
To paraphrase Gavin Chait … our need to light has been a constant source of
innovation.
Till next time …
Editor: Karen Grant (
) - Advertising manager: Jenny Warwick
)
Layout: Adel JvR Bothma - Circulation: Karen Smith
Cover:
The Pour
by Design Haus Liberty
(Photograph: Lauren Coleman)
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08-09/14
