At this year’s ILP Summit, of which we were a proud sponsor, the question on everyone’s lips was ‘Just how far has the UK gone towards converting to LED street lighting?’ and ‘What will the industry look like in a couple of years when we hit our next major milestone in the Paris Agreement?’ As Premier Corporate Members of the Institution of Lighting Professionals (ILP) and via our network of contacts within local authority street lighting, we realised that we were well placed to find the answers to these questions. Earlier this month launched a nationwide survey in collaboration with the ILP, reaching out to every local authority in the UK and focussing on urban street lighting. The main objectives of the study are to determine:
The contribution of UK local authority street lighting to meeting Paris Agreement targets.
The UK’s progression towards the total conversion to LED street lights, estimating the energy and CO2 saved annually.
The contribution of the government initiative Salix in the conversion to LED street lighting
A regional league table (North West, South East, Midlands etc), proportionately establishing which areas of the country are leading in the conversion to LED and energy savings.
The National Street Lighting Survey aims to provide an accurate quantitative snapshot of the current status of local authority lighting, as well as an informed estimate of what the industry will look like by our next major Paris Agreement milestone in 2020. Working closely with ILP VP Highways Ian Jones, we are also aiming to assess the ongoing opportunities available to lighting engineers and lighting engineering graduates in local government. This is a critical issue for the ILP and YLP; the study should help to provide a better picture of the current scope of the industry. The Results We hope to finish compiling responses to the study by December this year and aim to publish our findings in early 2019. The study will be collated into a digital report, which will be made freely available for download. We also hope to present our findings next year at the next ILP Summit.
