Middlesbrough Council Lighting the Way

Now that Carbon Trading has become a reality, more and more pressure is put on local authorities to reduce their carbon footprint. Street lighting is one area where large savings can often be made; however, it is the local authority’s responsibility to ensure that a seamless service continues while implementing these reductions and safety standards are not affected. This task can be very difficult. Street lighting is enigmatic. It is largely ignored when it is working and usually only noticed when there is a problem. We have already seen evidence of this across the UK in areas where switching off street lighting during quiet times of the night has proven unpopular with the public and raises major concerns over road safety and liability issues. Since 1999 Middlesbrough Council has been developing Environmental Management Systems with partners to ensure compliance with environmental legislation. These systems look at energy use, impacts of climate change and recycling. Their Strategic Plan also includes ‘Transforming Our Local Environment’, which aims to improve the quality, cleanliness and safety of our public spaces. The Council is proactively trying to find the most effective and efficient solution to these issues, and has assessed several different types of street lighting equipment such as remote dimming and monitoring, white light, photocell trimming, induction lamps and, the most attractive option, LED lighting. As a result of this testing they are now running an LED street lighting pilot using WRTL Stela luminaires, which reduce CO2 emissions by up to 65% compared to traditional solutions and provides high energy savings without the need to dim or switch off during the night. Stela is manufactured using a large proportion of recycled materials, especially steel and aluminium, and has a 100,000 hour service life with a six year cleaning cycle and virtually no other maintenance requirements. Rob Warner, Street Lighting Engineer with Middlesbrough Council, said: “The initial results are good, and feedback from the residents is positive. The energy usage is being monitored via an independent meter and so far is ticking all the right boxes. “My personal view is that there should be more government funding available for research into new forms of energy efficient street lighting, instead individual local authorities are left to fend for themselves to research technological solutions for this growing problem. “What is needed is a research group representing various aspects of the lighting profession, to carry out detailed research on behalf of local authorities. It is a crucial time for external lighting and the decisions we make now will have far reaching implications.” Middlesbrough Council is committed to achieving an environmentally sustainable and prosperous future for the town. For further information on Stela call WRTL on 0121 521 1234 email sales@wrtl.co.uk or visit www.wrtl.co.uk END

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