INTRODUCTION TO SMART LIGHTING

Urban life is no longer governed by day and night.

Increasingly we are moving towards the 24 hour city for a large proportion of the population. This “urbanisation of time” means that cities need to provide more public lighting even though they are under pressure to reduce costs. Over 70% of New Zealanders live in an urban context and this percentage is expected to rise in the future as the population grows.

Smart Cities offer their citizens all the services and amenities they need, whilst minimising waste. Energy is one of the biggest expenses for all public authorities, with public amenity lighting – particularly town centre, highway and residential area lighting – accounting for up to 40% of the usage.

Lighting is predominantly about safety – keeping roads safe for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians – but it’s also about making our towns and cities attractive places to live and work. Giving public spaces a friendly welcoming ambience after dark and linking car parks to amenities, builds a vibrancy into the heart of where we choose to live.

Using rapidly-developing smart technology to deliver lighting where it is needed, when it is needed,  has now become an affordable, cost-effective option. The Smart City has arrived.

 

LED Technology

The future is bright – using LED technology to light highways and urban areas saves big percentages of energy usage. Not only do LEDs use much less energy to produce the same level of light as other technologies, but also because they produce a white light, the human eye will see in “true” colour and the brain will perceive the presence of a person or object in a much shorter time – thus improving road safety and personal security. Read more on LED Technology

 

Intelligent Lighting Control

Smart lighting control means that the level of light can be adapted to needs and current conditions – for example dimming at low traffic volume times, increasing light levels in poor weather and heavy traffic.  LEDs can be networked, monitored and controlled remotely. Dynamically managed lighting control coupled with the switch to LED could lead to energy savings as high as 50%. Read more on Smart Lighting Control

 

Lighting Design is all part of the service

Techlight work with you and your team to deliver an holistic approach for your lighting project.  With over 60 years combined experience in Project Lighting Design, we  provide design options that are fully compliant with the Australia / New Zealand Standards and specific Local Authority requirements. Read more about our approach to lighting design.